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Friday, March 29, 2024
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One book at a time: Talking Leaves World Book Night 2013

April 23 is marked in history as the day both Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the world-renowned Don Quixote, died. Now, it is also a day in which 25,000 people can be seen handing books to strangers all throughout the night in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany.

Jonathan Welch, owner of local bookstore Talking Leaves, thinks this is a great way to improve literacy in the community.

World Book Night started in the U.K. and Ireland in 2011 and has become an international event dedicated to providing books to people who may not have access to bookstores or libraries and to individuals who are not avid readers. Every year, an independent committee of authors, publishers and booksellers chooses a selection of about 30 books to hand out around the country.

Volunteer "givers" from the community choose a "giver site" before April 23 and can choose one title they would like give out on World Book Night.

On the night of April 23, these givers make trips around their regions to hand out 20 free copies of whatever title they picked.

This year's selection included works such as Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, and Michael Perry's Population 485 - some of Welch's favorites. They spanned genres such as mystery, history and humor. About 500 books were given out in the City of Buffalo alone and many givers passed out books on the city's West Side, Welch said.

Although the event runs the risk of decreasing the store's book sales, Welch believes that its benefits outweigh the potential cost.

"[It] is a risk that we are willing to take," Welch said. "It is a seed planting thing - you plant seeds and a lot of them don't sprout, but some do, and that just means that you are creating a generation of people who are interested in books and reading, and there's no downside to that."

The goal of World Book Night is to "seek out adult readers wherever they are, in towns and cities, in public settings or in places from nursing homes to food pantries, low-income schools to mass transit," according to World Book Night's website.

Welch saw World Book Night as an opportunity to improve literacy within Buffalo and Talking Leaves joined the effort.

While it is just one of a few bookstores in the area that help with World Book Night, Welch said being a "giver site" was a natural decision for the bookstore and he can see the impact it's making.

"[We have] has always been a part of the literacy effort," Welch said. "As a book store, we are all about getting people to read and emphasizing the power of language, the power of reading and the power of words in all kinds of ways. Reading strengthens character and opens up windows to the world that, in a sense, you don't have without reading. It was just a 'how can we say no' sort of thing."

All books chosen for World Book Night must meet certain criteria, according to Welch. The books must be contemporary - written by authors who are still alive - or established classics. The books also must span a range of different cultures and genres and must meet a reading level from four through fifth grade and above.

Each book is marked as a special free edition that cannot be sold; individual authors make no money by sharing their books.

Although World Book Night is making an increasing impact on the world, Welch said one of its biggest challenges is spreading the word and getting national and local coverage.

While national publicity in the United States has improved from last year's efforts - the event was covered on The Today Show and NPR - he said it is nowhere near the amount seen in the U.K., but they hope to improve on it within the next few years by holding public events.

In Welch's opinion, World Book Night not only benefits those who receive the books, but also benefits the givers. By learning to approach different people with the same book and persuading them to read it without knowing them personally, givers face an interesting challenge.

Welch has heard first-hand accounts from people in the legal system about how books have helped victims of child abuse and violence escape from their immediate situations for a short time and how special they feel when they receive the books.

While Welch would like to see the impact of World Book Night grow in Buffalo and around the world, he said Talking Leaves is dedicated to improving literacy through any method possible.

With upcoming book and poetry readings in May at the bookstore, Welch said "the issue of literacy is [a] constant ... all-the-time affair" and the effort will not stop any time soon.

Email: features@ubspectrum.com


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