Isle of Wight libraries celebrate World Book Night

Isle of Wight libraries celebrated World Book Night with events taking place at Ryde and Sandown libraries.

World Book Night is a national celebration of reading and books that takes place on 23 April every year and brings people from all backgrounds together for one reason — to inspire others to read more.

At the heart of World Book Night 2024 are ‘Quick Reads’ — short books and great stories by best-selling authors, written in an accessible and easy-to-read style.

Quick Reads is a programme run by The Reading Agency who work with a range of publishers to commission high profile authors to write short engaging books that are specifically designed to be easy to read.

The Isle of Wight Library Service successfully applied to World Book Night and was gifted 300 copies of ‘The Jealousy Man’ by popular Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbo, to share with residents, and library staff have been out in the community handing them out over the past couple of weeks.

Joanna Cooke, from Lord Louis Library, gave copies to Pan Together, a registered charity based in Downside Community Centre, and Louise Emery, from Sandown Library, joined the Living Well service’s CAMEO group at the Broadway Centre to share books with them.

Ryde Library also gave books to the Living Well service as well as to their local Odd Fellows group.

Councillor Julie Jones Evans, Cabinet member for libraries, said: "If you’re out and about in Cowes, look out for copies in some of the local coffee shops as that’s where staff have been busy giving them out.

"If you do pick up a copy, the library service really hopes you enjoy reading it and encourage you to pass it on to someone else so they can enjoy it too."

Ryde and Sandown libraries celebrated on World Book Night by hosting an evening of activities designed to promote and encourage the love of reading.

They held book swaps with chat about all things bookish and then joined in with the national reading hour, when everyone is encouraged to dedicate time to reading.

In the libraries, attendees and staff took time to enjoy some uninterrupted silent reading, accompanied by tasty snacks and a glass of wine, kindly provided by Friends of the Library.

Both events were thoroughly enjoyed by those who went, and the plan is to repeat them again next year on World Book Night.