World Book Night 2012

Today is a special day. Not only is it St. George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday, but it is also World Book Night (WBN). This day sees 20,000 people freely distribute 1 million books in order to share the joy of reading. I was lucky enough to be selected as a ‘giver’, just as I was last year.

On Saturday I went tomy local Carnegie library, Wednesbury Library, to collect my allotted 24 copies of the Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. My plate is pretty full at the moment with a hefty software integration project at work and a 10,000 word assignment for my evening class, so (purely for convenience) I decided to give out the books at work. I left them unattended in the staff lounge and when I went to check just a couple of hours later, they’d all gone. Unfortunately, distributing the books in this way means that I didn’t personally hand them out and also they were probably all snapped up by people who are already established readers; both of these factors are not ideal, but I simply couldn’t manage to distribute them any other way at the moment. I did, however, make sure the giveaway was publicised on the library’s blog and also on the intranet notice board.

I must pay credit where credit is due. The postings I made about last year’s WBN were far from complimentary. They chronicle a frustrating lack of communication and a disappointingly poor delivery system. Despite this, I dearly believe in the ethos of WBN and wanted to be involved again. I am pleased to say that this year, everything progressed seamlessly from start to finish. The organisers of WBN have improved the system in every respect - the website maintained integrity, email communication was frequent, deliveries were on time, the book registration process was simplified. I have enjoyed a smooth involvement with World Book Night this year and hopefully I'll come across some other WBN books dotted about the landscape! 

Would love to hear how other givers distributed their books or if anyone 'out there' received a WBN book...

World Book Night (part 3)

Welcome to yet another post about WBN….

I received an email from WBN informing me that because my books had failed to arrived, I could distribute any books my collection point held, which had failed to be claimed by anyone else. So… a week after WBN I took collection of 48 copies of Life of Pi.

I felt really pleased to finally have some books and couldn’t believe that throughout my daily enquiries to the library regarding the whereabouts of my books, there was an unclaimed box sat there the whole time! It seemed such a waste that somebody wouldn’t collect them, especially when so many reserve givers - like me - were desperately trying to find books. I wonder which collection point my books ended up in? Hopefully they were distributed by another WBN giver.

As mentioned in previous WBN posts, each book should be registered online and have an identification number, allowing the books’ journeys from reader to reader, to be followed. I didn’t receive any WBN numbers, so I registered each book with Bookcrossing. Needless to say, it took a l-o-n-g time! I also printed out stickers to put on the books, informing the recipient that the journey of the book could be tracked through this website. So far, two days after all the books have been distributed, nobody has logged onto the site, but hopefully they will soon.

World Book Night (part 2)

Well, folks, World Book Night has come and gone. I would very much like to blog about how wonderful the experience was; however, here is the reality of it...

My original application was rejected but I was acceptyed as a Reserve Giver. I couldn't believe my luck. As a Reserve I wouldn't know which titles I'd distribute until I unpacked them, it's just whatever was leftover after all the original Givers had received their chosen titles. That's fine, I thought, just glad to be able to take part. I planned to distribute my books to staff in local schools.

Things seemed a little 'funny' right from the very start. Communication was patchy and I received only 4 emails in total - asking me to be a reserve, confirming a collection point 100 miles away, changing the collection point to a local library and then saying I should have received my books/numbers. However, my books AND numbers both failed to arrive.

I am so disappointed, I was thrilled to be taking part in it and feel very let down by WBN. Did they not research the undertaking beforehand? They knew exactly how many books were to go where, so I don't understand how so many complications could have arisen. It's just such a shame. I know it's a gigantic project and some people have said we shouldn't complain as it's free, but that isn't the point. There's even a Facebook page dedicated to people who failed to received WBN books! Hopefully I'll be able to take part next year and the teething problems which ruined it for so many people, will have been ironed out by then.

Despite this, I spent Sat night at my local library for a WBN event. It was great, 290 people turned up and I left with 3 free books! (Only 1 of which had a number with which to track its journey though...)

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.