World Book Day

23rd April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. The success of the World Book and Copyright Day will depend primarily on the support received from all parties concerned (authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media), who have been mobilized in each country by UNESCO National Commissions, UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, Associated Schools and Libraries, and by all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors.

World Book Capital is a title bestowed by UNESCO to a city in recognition of the quality of its programs to promote books and Redding and the dedication of all players in the book industry. The designation runs from April 23rd (UNESCO's World Book and Copyright Day) of one year until April 22nd of the following year. This year’s world book capital is Buenos Aires.

The nomination does not include any financial prize; it rather acknowledges the best programmes dedicated to books and reading.

The nominating committee welcomes programmes — presented by or endorsed by the mayor of the city making the application — that promote and foster reading. The programmes are to run from one World Book and Copyright Day and the next. The nomination committee will turn its attention to certain criteria:

▪ the degree of participation of all levels.

▪ the programme's potential impact.

▪ the scope and quality of the activities proposed by the candidates, and the extent to which they involve writers, publishers, booksellers and libraries.

▪ any other projects promoting books and reading.

▪ the extent to which the programme respects the principles of freedom of expression, as stated by the UNESCO Constitution as well as by Articles 19 and 27 of the Universal  Declaration of Human Rights and by the Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials.

The following cities have been designated as World Book Capitals: Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010) and Buenos Aires (2011).