I am so delighted and honoured to hear I have been chosen as one of the Givers for this year. The purpose of World Book Night (WBN) is to encourage those who perhaps don't read for pleasure and to share the love of reading and books. On the 23rd of April 2014, 20,000 givers will gift half a million books to their new owners. The only condition of accepting a book is to agree to read it and to either keep it or pass it on as you see fit.
I participated in WBN last year and blogged about my experience here. I spent my time in an Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department and gave my books to patients, relatives and staff. It was a lovely experience for me as the books were really well received and I was particularly touched by how grateful people were. My masterplan had been not to disturb the working of the department but the nursing staff were absolutely stars and keen to help me identify suitable patients to access to offer a book to and to hear more about what WBN was all about.
There were some funny moments too. A nurse and a patient and his wife were convinced I was dispensing Bibles. On finding out I wasn't one was relieved and the other disappointed! The other funny was when I inadvertently tried to gift 'The No1 Ladies Detective Agency' book to two male CID Officers who looked completely scandalised.
This year I plan to do the same in a different A&E department. I have been lucky to get my first choice book which is .59seconds by Richard Wiseman. I thought if I were waiting in a stressful environment I'd want something short, thought provoking and possibly a conversation starter. It also fits in well with the self improvement messages so beloved of hospitals.
I can't wait till I do this again but am pragmatically glad of the delay between now and April. Right now if I lurched in with my crutch and gammy knee I'd get lobbed into triage and mistaken for one of the casualties!
Well done, that sounds like a great experience - how lovely to gift books to others on such a grand scale. Look forward to reading all about it after the event.
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What a wonderful program!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful experience for both giver and recipient :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea - hope you get some more positive responses again this time. Do hope your gammy leg will be better soon too.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you really enjoy getting to do this and that no one accosts you and tries to give you some unwanted treatment!! xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous idea, have a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
Excellent! Glad you got chosen and what a great place to hand them out :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great initiative. And so lovely that you participate.
ReplyDeleteOh what fun! Of course, it's WBD next week - I usually steel myself as the kids have to go to school dressed up as something bookish, and we usually get about 48 hours notice... I hope it's a successful and fun night for you. x
ReplyDeleteVery nice of you to volunteer for this good project. I like to volunteer at the waterfall near me. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful this is!! X
ReplyDeleteSorry, pressed save too early. How did it go? X
ReplyDeleteA few years ago my friend's son in law was given CJ Sansom's Dissolution for WBN. He passed it to my friend, she (lives in Wiltshire) passed it to me(living in Pembrokeshire). The book was passed from person to person, one of whom asked for his other books for Christmas, which then were passed around, also! This went on for months and every now and again someone would say "I have finished your book can I give it to someone else?" Frequently I did not know they had been given the book In the first place!! Eventually the book was returned to me and is in remarkably good condition considering how many people have read it. I haven' t had one since then but lots of books have come my way in a similar fashion since and this has meant reading an even wider variety of books than before.
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