Suffolk Libraries will be supporting World Book Night next week to promote reading for pleasure across the county. World Book Night takes place on Wednesday 23 April 2014 and is an annual celebration of reading and books across the UK.

Co-ordinated by the Reading Agency, it involves hundreds of thousands of books being given away for free with the aim of sharing a love of reading with people who, for whatever reason, don’t read for pleasure or own books.

In the UK 35% of people don’t regularly read despite reading for pleasure being a globally recognised indicator in a huge range of social issues from poverty to mental health. Several libraries in Suffolk will be designated World Book giving libraries and will be acting as pick up points for the books to be given away.

There are some extra activities taking place on World Book Night (and during the day) aimed at promoting reading across all ages (all events are on 23 April):

A bedtime story with Nick Butterworth
Popular children’s author Nick Butterworth, author of Percy the Park Keeper and Q Pootle 5 which has featured on CBeebies, will be at Capel St Mary Library from 6.30pm to 7.30pm. Children are being invited to come along in their favourite pyjamas ready for a bedtime story. (This event is already fully booked but photographers are welcome).

There will also be a cheese and wine book swap for grown-ups from 7.30pm. Adults are invited to bring along a book they would like to swap and tickets are £5 including a glass of wine.

Ian McFadyen at Hadleigh and Haverhill libraries
Author Ian McFadyen will be discussing his exciting crime thriller series and his latest title ‘Deadly Secrets’ at both Hadleigh and Haverhill Library. He will be at Hadleigh Library from 10.30am and at Haverhill from 2.30pm – 3.30pm.

To find out more about Ian go to: www.ianmcfadyen.webs.com. Contact Haverhill Library on 01440 702638 and Hadleigh on 01473 823778 to book a place or for more information.
Gainsborough Library in Ipswich will be open late until 9pm with activities from 4pm.
There will be storytelling for children and families from 6.30pm and for teens and adults from 7.45pm with local storyteller Justine. The local rainbows, brownies and guides will be visiting the library from 5.30pm and performing a conga through local streets around 6pm. Anyone is welcome to join in!

The library’s café will be serving cakes and refreshments and the library will be giving away free books to adults.

At Rosehill Library there will be crafts and a treasure hunt from 4pm to 5pm, followed by a quiz night from 7pm to 9pm. The quiz will be for teams of up to four people, at £1 per head and teams can book in advance. Refreshments will be available for a small donation and the library will be giving away free books to adults.

Kesgrave Library will be serving up cookies and bedtime stories from 6pm to 7.30pm.
Children can come along in their onesies and there will be story reading, craft activities and drinks and cookies. The library is also giving away free teenage and adult fiction books.

40 winks at Ipswich Library – Ipswich County Library are holding a ’40 winks’ event from 7pm to 9pm. This is a chance for literature lovers to hear readings from selected books. Tickets are £3 which includes refreshments and a free book.

Lowestoft Library are holding a murder mystery World Book Night from 7pm. Contact the library for more details on 01502 674660. There are also children’s activities from 10.45am to 11.45am.

Books swap, cakes and a chance to meet new friends at Great Cornard
Great Cornard Library are celebrating World Book Night and the launch of their new Friends group with a special book swap event. The event runs from 5pm to 7pm and anyone can bring along any book to swap with someone else. It doesn’t matter whether the book is new or used. There will also be copies of World Book Night books available to take away for free.

The Friends of Great Cornard Community Library has been set up to support and promote the library along with the many other community groups which are providing a vital role in helping the county’s libraries.

Brandon Library celebrates books
Brandon Library are celebrating all forms of books from 3pm to 6pm.  There’s a chance to grab a bargain from the ‘Friends of Brandon Library’ book sale and bring in a book to swap in a book exchange. People can write down their favourite book to help a wall of great reads and memories and there’ll be an opportunity to get a demonstration of how to access Suffolk Libraries’ ebooks.

The Friends of Newmarket Library are organising a ‘World Book Night’ night out at Wildwood Restaurant in Newmarket from 6.30pm.

The event will be a chance for everyone in the Friends Group and in supporting the library to get to know each other better. There will also be a raffle on the night, and anyone coming along is welcome to bring a favourite piece of literature or a poem to read out or event to bring a musical instrument to play.

The library will also be giving away copies of the five World Book Night books. The Friends of Newmarket Library are also looking for ideas for a new ‘Your Town, Your Guide’ project to pull together a guide of the top 10 Newmarket highlights.

Needham Market Library are holding an afternoon book sale from 2pm to 4pm. During the May the library will also be displaying and promoting the Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri which have been made famous by the BBC4 adaptation.

Kedington Library are inviting Scouts and girl guides collecting their free copy of The Recruit by Robert Muchamore at 7.00pm.

There are more details of Suffolk Libraries event at www.suffolklibraries.co.uk and for more information about World Book Night and the books being given away visit www.worldbooknight.org

 

Other World Book Night facts:

UNESCO appointed 23 April the international day of the book – it is a symbolic date for world literature as it is both the birth and death of Shakespeare and the death day of Cervantes, the great Spanish novelist.

World Book Night is run by the Reading Agency – a charity whose mission is to give everyone an equal chance of becoming a reader and to discover for themselves the benefits and opportunities that stem from reading.

World Book Night is about giving books and encouraging those who have lost the love of reading – or are yet to gain it – to pick up a book and read. The books given away are funded from a number of sources including the Arts Council and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and publishers, plus authors waive royalties on the books which are given away.

For more information on World Book Night, please go to www.worldbooknight.org

 

 

To find out more about Lowestoft College ring 0800 854695