world book day

Across the county of Suffolk, libraries will be celebrating World Book Day on the 7th March, where pre-school children and their parents & carers are invited to drop in for special story times to celebrate.

This is the 22nd annual World Book Day, a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and reading. It’s the biggest celebration of its kind and is marked all over the world.

This year, World Book Day asks for us to ‘Share a Story’ which will be the theme of the sessions at the libraries as children gather to read and listen to a range of different stories.



Suffolk Libraries have been a recurrent supporter in improving literacy and reading in Suffolk.

Krystal Vittles, Head of Service Delivery for Suffolk Libraries, says: “One of the best things parents can do with their children is reading books together as research has repeatedly shown that just 10 minutes a day can make a huge difference to a child’s life.”

Share a Story is the campaign for World Book Day this year, encouraging parents and carers to read and share stories with their children for ten minutes every day. Sharing stories together – anywhere, anytime – for just ten minutes a day has long-lasting effects on a child’s future and being read to is critical in igniting children’s enthusiasm for reading and is strongly linked to creating readers for life. 

Krystal talks about why this theme is so important for children:

“Sharing stories can be a really fun way to not only increase literacy but also strengthen bonds. The range of children’s books available means there’s something for everyone, even for the most reluctant readers, and we hope the free children’s books available this World Book Day or those at your local library inspires everyone to make a habit of reading.”

Here are some World Book Day events hosted by Suffolk Libraries this year:

Bungay Library – 9:30 to 11:30 – Storytelling and crafts for 0-5 year olds

Sudbury Library – 10:30 to 11:15 – Take part in a special bookstart session, come dressed as your favourite book character and collect some World Book day tokens.

Chantry Library – 11:00 to 13:00 – Drop in for a special story time with Angela.

Chantry Library – 10:00 to 18:00 – Book Mountain: Pick up some bargain books and help support your library with a book sale.

Gainsborough Library – 14:00 to 14:45 & 16:00 to 16:45 – Take part in a story time from 2pm, followed by stories, games and word searches from 4pm. Children dressed as a book character will win a prize.

Lowestoft Library – 16:15 to 17:40 – Come dressed as your favourite book character for stories, crafts and more.

Great Cornard library – All day – Design a bookmark competition, book scavenge and children’s crafts.

Southwold LIbrary – All day – Lots of World Book Day activity and craft sheets for children to enjoy. Library Manager Charlotte Clark will be dressed up as Mog the Forgetful Cat.

Haverhill Library will be showcasing some stories that have been submitted by local schoolchildren and will be handing out book tokens on the Friday.

Are you a fan of Harry Potter? On Friday March 8th, Chantry Library will also be hosting a Harry Potter Book Night in celebration of the much-loved book series by J.K Rowling.

For more information about library events, visit www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/events-activities 

www.worldbookday.com