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World Book Night has attracted nearly 80,000 givers to distribute 2.5million books on the night, 23rd April.
Over 78,000 givers are to take part across the US, UK and Germany, including places such as the Shetland Islands, Jersey, Alaska, Florida and Berchtesgarden in Bavaria.
Founder Jamie Byng said: “We always hoped that World Book Night would become a global initiative that truly lived up to its name. We have been overwhelmed by the support from our international partners; the number of givers signed up and the sheer volume of books being given away across Germany, the USA and the UK is truly astounding and the prospect of so many great books being read and shared all over the world on April 23rd is very exciting.”
The US’ WBN, in its inaugural year, has signed up 25,000 givers across 6,000 towns and cities. Carl Lennertz, WBN US chief executive, said: “I have been, on a daily basis, overwhelmed by the generous spirit of my fellow citizen. Not just about their love of reading and the desire to share that, but their wish to make a loving gesture to someone in need, or simply, to just make books a fun, joyous part of daily life.”
WBN Germany attracted 41,000 volunteers for its 33,333 places. Joerg Pfuhl, chairman of the "Friends of Reading" campaign Stiftung Lesen said:
“The WBN motto 'share the passion' has gotten a lot of traction already! And it’s the first time that publishers and retailers are cooperating on a project of this scale, making WBN bigger than it has been in the past.”