Libraries are ready for World Book Day 2023

World Book Day is almost here again and as always Cheshire West and Chester Libraries have grand plans to fully celebrate the occasion and boost children’s reading.

The teams have been busy organising fancy dress swap events and are now getting ready to swap thousands of new books in return for vouchers in libraries on Saturday 4 March.

The vouchers will be given out for free to children in schools, nurseries and other settings across the borough on World Book Day, Thursday 2 March.

The fancy dress swap events have been a great success with over two hundred fancy dress outfits donated during January and February.  Many have already been swapped for free, meaning families could both save money and help the environment.  The remaining outfits will be donated to children’s centres and charity shops.

Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Councillor Louise Gittins said: “World Book Day is a national and international campaign to change lives through a love of books and shared reading.  The mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

“Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. The aim is to see more children with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure, and the improved life chances this brings them.

“I’m delighted our fancy dress swap events have been such a success and helped this year’s celebrations, as many families are struggling to balance their household budget.”

This year the list of available books is wide-ranging, from the “Bedtime for the Burpee Bears” by Joe Wicks to “The Marvel Spider-Man Amazing Pocket Guide” and for older children, books like “Boot It!” by AM Dassu or complex reads like “Split” by Muhammad Khan.

The normal time for the book giveaway is 9.30am to 12.30pm but readers are advised to check with their local library for variations.  Libraries which are not open on Saturdays (Malpas, Tarporley and Tarvin) will have their event on World Book Day itself (2 March).

In addition, a special World Book Day quiz will also be available in all public libraries until the end of the day, with the chance given to win a £10 book token.

Cllr Gittins added: “Our Library Service would also love children and those who accompany them to join while they visit.  Joining is free of charge and simple, with no need for identification, and there are no late fees for the under 13s.  The approval of a parent or guardian is needed for children to join.”

Membership also means free access to the Borrowbox app which has thousands of eBooks and eAudio titles for children and adults, as well as the Libby app for eMagazines.

World Book Day was created by UNESCO on 23 April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.  The first World Book Day in the UK and Ireland took place in 1997 to encourage young people to discover the pleasure of reading.

What is World Book Day

The complete list of books available are:

Lifesize Creepy Crawlies by Sophy Henn

Billy’s Bravery by Tom Percival

Bedtime for Burpee Bears by Joe Wicks

You Choose Your Adventure by Pippa Goodhart

Dave Pigeon: Bookshop Mayhem by Swapna Haddow

The Marvel Spider-Man Pocketsize Guide by Catherine Saunders

The Boy With Wings: Rampaging Robot by Lenny Henry

Dragon Realm Adventure by Katies Tsang

Strangeworld Travel Agency by LD Lapinski

Kay’s Brilliant Brains by Adam Kay

Boot it by AM Dassu

Being an Ally by Shakirah Bourne