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Library authorities in Gateshead are to give away 1,500 copies of David Almond's Skellig to their book groups as part of a Great North East Read project with a "bookcrossing" element.
Book group members will be encouraged to leave their copies of Skellig for other people to pick up, an idea based on the bookcrossing.com website. Readers will be asked to send an electronic response to the libraries so they can track the number of people actually reading the book.
Publisher Hodder Children's Books has contributed 100 promotional copies of Skellig for the project and will distribute display materials to the libraries for Almond's new title, Jackdaw Summer, which is published in November.
The bookcrossing project is the latest in a number of initiatives based on Skellig and launching this autumn, including a new opera production which opens at Sage Gateshead in November and a touring production of "Skellig" by Birmingham Stage Company.