World Book Night (part 1)

Have had some good news this week. After initially being refused, my application to be a Book Giver for World Book Night has been accepted!

I apllied late last year and was turned down, but have now been accepted as a Reserve Giver. This means that whilst I'm definitely as Book Giver, I won't get to select the titles I distribute, I'm simply alloacted whichever ones are available.

I'm presuming anyone reading this blog entry will know what WBN is, but of course you may not. Very remise of me! 20,000 people are selected and are each given 48 books to distribute as they see fit. The idea is that each book has a number attached to it and by logging onto the website, the journey of each book can be recorded. It's a marvellous way of spreading the joys reading for pleasure - for FREE.

This is the inaugural WBN and I am thrilled to be taking part. My allotted pick-up point is Stone Cross Library (in West Bromwich) and from Friday lunchtime my books should be available for collection, and I'll attend a session on Saturday evening at Sandwell Central Library, to start the distribution process. It's a wonderful scheme and I am very excited to be involved. Reading has given me masses of pleasure over the years, and has helped me through some difficult times in life by providing an escape. Reading allows you to travel anywhere and live any number of different lives. To give that possibility to somebody, as a gift, is incredible.

WBN is a huge undertaking, and as this is its first year, there have been a few hiccups along the way. The WBN website has crashed and the Facebook page has forums dedicated to complaints. People don't know which titles they've been allocated, collection points haven't been confirmed, communication is patchy. So far, I've had confirmation of my pick up point but not my unique reference number or the titles to distribute, but I'm just going with the flow. This project is meant to be about fun, so I'm trying not to get too hot under the collar about it and instead remember the ethos of WBN.