Today is World Book Day.

We had an interview with with Nazeem Hardy who is in charge of Marketing and Research in the Cape Town Central Library. He told us about World Book Day, which is today on the 23rd of April 2009.

The tradition of celebrating books and reading on the 23rd of April each year is, however, a long-standing one. Apart from the fact that the date coincides with the commemoration of St. George’s Day, a very special custom is practised in Catalonia and other Catalan-speaking areas of the world.

On this day roses and books are exchanged as a gesture of “a rose for love and a book forever!” In Spain the 23rd of April commemorates the death of Miguel de Cervantes, author of “Don Quixote de la Mancha”, deemed to be finest text in the Spanish language. In the English-speaking world the date has also been associated with William Shakespeare, April 23, 1616 being the date of his death and some scholars stating that it was also the date of his birth 52 years earlier.

The history of the celebration of the day in Spain is a particularly intriguing. The decision by UNESCO to internationalise this celebration confirms its commitment to the promotion of reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.
World Book Day in South Africa has been co-ordinated by the Centre for the Book since its establishment in 1998 and we are responsible for managing activities including a nationwide poster campaign whereby approximately 50 000 special posters are designed, printed and distributed with the assistance of SABC Education, SAPPI South Africa, the Printers’ College of the Print Industries Federation of South Africa and Allied Media.

The posters are provided particularly to schools and public libraries around the country, in preparation of the occasion itself. The slogan for this year’s World Book Day campaign is “Books Talk: are you listening?” and features our nation’s favourite television personality, Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu! Posters can be collected from national depots around the country.

For more information contact 021 400 3933.