by April Everett Rowan Public Library
“No thank you” was
the most common response I got my first year of participating in World Book
Night. Who knew it would be so hard to give a free book away? I thought to
myself. For those who are unfamiliar,
World Book Night (WBN) is an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the love
of reading, person to person. Each year
on April 23rd, thousands of people hit the streets to give away a box
of 20 free WBN paperback books to light and non-readers World Book Night.
The premise of “spreading the love of reading”
appealed to me, but the “person to person” bit is what made me apprehensive. I am overall a painfully shy and socially
awkward person, despite my choice of a public service career. Nevertheless, in 2012 I signed up and was
chosen to be a “giver” (the term used to describe those who distribute WBN
books). A coworker and I hit the streets
to share the joys of reading and were met with people scurrying to the other
side of the street, car windows quickly being rolled up, and a number of thinly
veiled “whatever you’re selling, we don’t want it” attitudes. And honestly, could I blame them? We’ve all been approached by someone in the
parking lot asking for money, charities soliciting donations at the door, or
groups sharing pamphlets. None of those
acts are inherently bad, but sometimes you just want to buy your milk and bread
and go home.
Discouraged by the
response in 2012, I decided to take a year off from WBN and cheer on from the
sidelines. When giver registration
opened for WBN 2014, I reluctantly signed up.
In February, I received confirmation that I had been selected as a
giver, and that my top choice of Wild by Cheryl Strayed was the book I would be giving away. This time around, I wore a large “I am a
Giver” sticker and my library name badge in hopes that people would not run the
other way when they saw me coming. I
also chose the public transportation as my venue, since I am rider myself. Nervously, I offered free books to my fellow riders,
many with whom I have shared a ride on a daily basis for the past two
years. I offered the book to one
passenger, who said he did not like to read but that his girlfriend might like
it. He went on to say that after he gets
off from a long day at work, he doesn’t have time to read--it’s just dinner, a
shower, and off to bed. I nodded in
understanding, thinking about the free time each one of us has on our commute,
silently willing him to open up the book.
About ten minutes into the ride, I glanced back and noticed he was
reading the book. I looked at the two
passengers in front of me and they were reading their copies too. Come to think of it, this was the quietest
commute I’d ever had. Almost all of the
passengers were reading their WBN books!
I don’t mean to
over-dramatize the experience, but it brought me unspeakable joy to see others
taking advantage of what may be their only free time during the day to read,
and to know that I played a small role in making that possible. If you are interested in being a giver for
WBN 2015, visit www.us.worldbooknight.org and sign up for the newsletter. Rowan Public Library supports the mission of
WBN and has been a site for givers to pick up books since 2012, so we will also
be posting information about how to sign up as it becomes available. Registration for givers usually begins in the
fall, so stay tuned!
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