World Book Night, the annual celebration of reading, took place on Friday April 23, 2021. This year’s theme, “Books To Make You Smile” was a response to the impact of Covid-19 on mental health, highlighting the proven power of reading and the benefits it brings to well-being.
“Over the last ten years, The Reading Agency has distributed over 2,800,000 books to help spread the joy of reading, with 245 titles by 205 authors distributed by over 90,000 volunteers and organisations across the UK,” a press statement read. Last year, the estimated social media reach of #WorldBookNight and #ReadingHour was 14.3 million.
To mark its 10th anniversary this year World Book Night hosted a number of virtual events, book giveaways, online activities, exclusive releases and promotions, calling for the whole nation to celebrate reading for pleasure.
Celebrations on World Book Night were live streamed in partnership with The British Library, hosted by World Book Night Ambassador Sandi Toksvig and featuring best-selling authors David Nicholls and Bolu Babalola, and World Book Night founder and Canongate CEO Jamie Byng (8-9pm).
On World Book Night, The Reading Agency gave away 100,000 books in various formats – twice as many as last year. In addition to print books, The Reading Agency is giving away 6,000 free audiobooks, as part of their efforts to make reading available to the widest possible audience. This year’s audiobooks include Emma by Jane Austen, narrated by Tanya Reynolds, BBC Audio’s Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, narrated by David Tennant and Samantha Spiro and Shahroo Izadi’s The Kindness Method. Anyone can apply online to receive an exclusive download code for an audiobook of their choice.
