A story about giving in the gym (again)

"WBN came and went in a flash. I thought long and hard about the possible places of distribution but alas, my experience last year coloured my decision and I found myself, yet again, opting for the gym!

So, again, I lugged my 20 books to this place dominated in the evenings by muscle-bound, sweaty, smelly, macho sorts whose prime aim in life is to pump iron, admire themselves in the mirrors surrounding their over-sized bodies and convince themselves that all that really matters in life is the size of one's biceps and the broadness of one's shoulders.
Many remember me as the tiny lady from planet weirdness where books are kings and power lies in pages. They all recalled being presented with "The Room" last year and immediately reiterated their fascination with the captivating story-comments which were repeated to me throughout the year since the last WBN. What did I have to offer them this year? Well, I replied, another story which would fascinate, move, entrance and leave them in tears.

This was just the sort of challenge these supposed iron men needed, and all clambered for a copy of "Me Before You." I have yet to receive feedback from this group of softies, but I bet they will love the novel, want to analyse it with me and await next year's offering. I have these giants in the palm of my hand but more importantly, they are interested in reading and empowered by the opportunities that WBN presents them with. What a great invention this fantastic idea is and what great fun it has given me to be able to spread the love of reading amongst men who realise that there is life beyond weights!!"

Giving The White Queen to non-reading mums

"Dear world book night you made my dreams come true! Thank you all so much for letting me give out the white queen. I had such a fantastic day, and thanks to you there are lots of very happy people in my home town, I gave my books away around my local estate. And after convincing some mums to put down their phones and give reading a try instead of social networking, over a cup of tea they took my books and said they would give them a try, but not to expect to much as they could not give a lot of time to read a book, as the last time they read one was at school

A week later and I saw 2 of the young mums, and they recognised me as the book girl and said to me that they found the book took less time than they thought to get into, and it was really great and they had been discussing it!!!!! And they both had started to think of reading as fun!!!! That's all down to you giving me the books to share it really was an honour thank you  keep spreading the joy x x x x x x xx"

So, we chose the books, we printed 500,000 of them and then distributed them to 20,000 individuals and 1200 institutions. On Tuesday April 23 they were given out to those who don't regularly read all over the country to spread the joy and love of reading.

But that's nowhere near where their - or our - story stops.

We now begin the really important work - evaluating what happened on the night, where and to whom the books actually went and how what we've done is impacting on people's lives.

We've received hundreds of emails telling us about your WBN experiences (keep them coming to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). In May we'll be sending a survey to all of our Givers to find out in a little more detail about everyone's experiences which will help inform how WBN works in the future. In 2012 an amazing 11,000 Givers took the time to answer the survey and it led to the reduction in the number of titles (from 25 to 20) and the number of copies each giver gets (from 24 to 20) as well as the introduction of the institutional giving - so who knows where this year's survey will lead us next!

But most of all we do still just really want to say thank you to everyone who came together to make World Book Night happen. It is the most amazing collaboration of people who love and know how important books and reading is, from the authors and publishers to booksellers and librarians and ultimately you, the readers. It is our enormous privilige to be able to work with you all to deliver the power and joy of reading to new people.

Oh, and we're launching a book club on May 1 to highlight each month the one book we've absolutely fallen for and think everyone should be reading. First up is The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion and if you want a little teaser of it you can see Graeme reading from it at our London event this year.

3

A story of giving at Edinburgh Court House

Overall, though it was a really enjoyable experience, most people were very amicable and receptive.  It took me about 20 minutes to distribute all 20 books.  I could have easily distributed double that with ease.

2

A Giver of Little Face who was surprised by how many non-readers she knew

The first of (hopefully) many stories today to touch us:

A story of giving books as an unexpected patient in hospital

3 days to go!

A story about giving 100 books and the love letter (and guilt free threesome!) that went with them
Michelle Varney, The Player of Games

I had a lovely and exhilarating - if exhausting - time chasing after people at a cinema, trying to thrust a copy of 'The Player of Games' into hands. I did a radio interview  in the days before and managed to rope in a publisher who gave away a couple of dozen of their soon-to-be-published books and persuaded a historical author (Elizabeth Chadwick) to  come along too. She gave away about twenty or so of her books, lovingly inscribed in celebration of WBN and signed by her. I made up over a hundred book marks with the following love-letter to literature upon them and put one in each and every book. So, all in all, 100 or more people got a free book.  I am definitely signing up again  in 2013....  

How can you not love a book?  
It  goes  everywhere and yet is always by your side.
It holds you close through the dark times and soars with you when your heart is up in the clouds.
It  makes you laugh just in remembrance of it  and yet the taste can be  as  wormwood.
You can meet books more vivid than your wildest imagination, you can meet your most feared,  most beloved and encounter those that are mad, bad and dangerous to know.
You can  pick up books you wouldn't take home to Mother, ones that will shock the Vicar, those that  keep children spellbound and ones you and your Granny can  talk about for hours.
You will meet your soulmate, your enemy and your hero.
Books will accompany you down the road to the pub, that long journey up North to Aunty Winifred's  or halfway across  South America to find yourself.
They have been taken to the bottom of the sea, to the North and South poles and are circling the planet as  you read this.
Take three of them to bed – they won't care and they'll still respect you in the morning. Nothing loves you like a book.

4

A story of giving to travellers and of celebrating short stories
Mary Walker, Someone Like You

Thank you so much for letting me be one of the very privileged people who were givers this year. What a lovely task!  I loved every minute. I chose Roald Dahl's short Stories, because there's a generation who only know him as a Children's writer, not as a wonderful writer for adults. Also because Publishers underestimate the popularity of short stories and don't publish them.  They are perfect for life today, when we're all on the move.  As promised, I stepped onto buses, and the odd train in far-flung West Yorkshire, to press the books into hands of very surprised and delighted passengers, especially if they looked young, or were obviously commuters.  I only got one suspicious person saying "How much do I have to pay you'.  Everyone promised to pass their copy on to a fellow passenger.  Everyone smiled, or was tickled pink.  So I just want to pass on their thanks to all of you who made it possible.  Thank you for stretching us givers into tactical giving...it would be so easy just to give to friends.  Long Live the Short Story.  Long Live Book Night!  It's brilliant.

5

A story of how being a giver has changed a sufferer of social anxiety’s life
Louise Dibble, Abergavenny, Someone like you

I would like to thank you for choosing me to be a giver...As a sufferer of social anxiety i dont very often find the courage to venture out through my front door but being a giver has given me the courage and focus to go out and meet new people whilst giving them a free book and changing their lives as much as they change mine..

Cant wait until i can register again for next year..

THANK YOU WORLD BOOK NIGHT !!

All my love

Louise

6

A story from a depressed librarian who found joy and new readers
Marie, Sunderland, Good Omens  

The excitement was almost too much. The sun dawned bright and... sunny; today, finally, at last, was the day I was to bless twenty-four neighbours with twenty-four copies of one of my most favourite books as part of World Book Night. From the word go the experience of being an official 'giver' had been one of personal fulfillment and righteous pride. For once, I was actually making a difference!

That was, of course, how I felt until the slightly uneasy feeling of last night emerged fully-grown into some kind of twenty-four-copies-of-Good-Omens-shaped nightmare. What was I actually going to do with these books? Who would I give them to? Oh, crap... and then, it sunk in. Not only had I no idea where I would offload my precious charges, but I had entirely forgotten the fact that I would be approaching total strangers to do so.

I've never been the most confident person in the world, but this is one thing I find exceedingly difficult. To admit my worst faults, I am shy, introverted and carry a complicated inferiority complex. I am clinically depressed and suffer from anxiety. I gibber awkwardly when put on the spot. To put it simply, I am not the kind of person you would find doing this sort of thing willingly. My job does involve working with strangers, but working behind a desk or among the bookshelves and being approached by people with fairly predictable queries is a completely different kettle of fish. I don't think I'd mentally prepared myself for today's challenges.

It didn't start out particularly promisingly, either. One thing or another had driven the necessity to phone ahead  prospective locations where I could give out the books. I was already feeling guilty when I dialled the number for the local Sainsbury's superstore; the waffle about 'nominated charities' and 'monthly diaries' made me feel worse. It was clear they were not going to allow me to do anything there this year, let alone today. My next attempt was the local doctors' surgery, where I was informed quite snootily 'we don't really do things like that' (what, provide free literature for your patients?).

However, a suggestion from my mother had me phoning one of the local cafes - The Mad Hatter. The literary connotation of the name should've perhaps occurred to me earlier, especially since it is (in my preformed and therefore unbiased-by-recent-events opinion) the nicest cafe in the area. They also do the best chili-chicken paninis this side of the Wear and quite regularly deliver dinner to an elderly friend of mine's door, even though they don't normally do deliveries. Surprisingly enough, they were more than happy to let me hand out books in the cafe. It's just unfortunate the book in question wasn't Alice in Wonderland!

So, we decided to have our lunch at the Mad Hatter today and while we were waiting for our food, I would be giving out the bag of books I'd brought with me. I won't lie and say I wasn't nervous, or that I didn't feel like an ungainly pest, but it became easier and easier. The lady at the first table I approached expressed shock when I told her that the book I'd just given her was entirely free. At another table, I was asked about World Book Night and what the free books were for. After explaining that it was an opportunity for people who love books to share the joy of reading with others, one of the gentlemen at the table who had previously declined my offer asked me for his own copy.

As luck had it, sitting in the middle of the room was our local councillor, who invited me to sit down and tell me about WBN and the book I had just given him. Even though the upcoming elections were in the corner of my mind (and no doubt his also) he seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing and who I was. He promised to read it, said he would give it to his wife too then made a note to contact the library when he'd finished to tell me what he thought of it. He also came over afterwards to thank me again and wish me luck with my career.

Not a single table turned down my offer and I was genuinely surprised that the books made people happy. My mother commented on how nice it was to see people leaving with books under their arms. One of the waitresses told us that the other diners were talking about how nice it was. I was even invited to come back tomorrow with any I had left. Looking at the much depleted pile, I wish I'd been given more!

When I applied to be a giver I did so because of my love of reading and, of course, because I want other people to find enjoyment in reading too. I definitely wasn't expecting anything in return. This experience gave me the impetus to overcome my fears and share something I love and feel so deeply about; and as a result, my self-confidence, interest in the life of my community and pride in myself have improved a thousandfold.

This much should be said: I will DEFINITELY be participating in World Book Night next year!

37

A story of giving at the jobcentre

Wendy Attwell, The Time Traveler's Wife

Everything about being part of World Book Night 2012 has been just wonderful!

Being part of the book-giving community across the world has made me feel really connected, part of something special. The build up, on facebook and twitter, seeing what other givers were doing and feeling, was an essential part of this. Labelling my books last night I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. The same sense of anticipation and excitement. I've not felt that in years!

My plan was to stand outside the local Jobcentre and give out books to people who really could do with cheering up, and possibly don't read much. My partner Paul came with me, to lend a hand (and hold the umbrella!).

I was a little scared, and anticipating some rudeness from people who weren't interested.

Instead, I was pleasantly surprised.

No one was rude. A few people ignored me, or politely declined.

But most people gratefully accepted a book, with a big smile and a thank you.

I approached the kind of people I would usually avoid out of fear: young men, hooded and tattooed, exiting the Jobcentre scowling. Most of them said they didn't read much, but thanked me and said they would give this book a go.

I approached people with "Can I give you a free book?" and explained that "An organisation called World Book Night is giving out a million free books today." I also asked them "Do you read much?" (Most of them said 'no, or 'a little') "Well the idea of this is to get people into reading/to read more."

And it was that simple. People smiled and took a book.

I also showed them all the info inside, pointing to the WBN website address, and the book reference number.

All the books went within an hour. I am on such a high right now! I want to do this every day!