Staff at Salisbury Library celebrate World Book Day

Salisbury Library celebrated the 25th anniversary of World Book Day in style today (3rd March 2022) as staff dressed up as their favourite book characters to share the magic of stories.

World Book Day is a charity event, funded by by publishers and booksellers in the UK and Ireland, and aims to give every child and young person a book of their own.

The day aims to encourage more children, from all backgrounds, to develop a life-long habit of reading for pleasure, allowing them to benefit from the improved life chances this can bring.

The staff at Salisbury Library celebrated the national day in fancy dress with a A-Z book character trail, a ‘Cat in the Hat’ bow tie giveaway, and, of course, lots of books to borrow.

Speaking on the topic of World Book Day, Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills said, “The World Book Day has been an incredibly successful initiative over the last 25 years and has distributed thousands of free books to children. Their mission is to promote reading for pleasure by offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

“Reading for pleasure is a strong indicator of a child’s future. Last September we launched the Wiltshire Year of Reading because we want to see more children, a lifelong habit of reading for pleasure as we know this not just aid learning but will also widen their horizons for the future.”

This year, as part of the Wiltshire Year of Reading, all schools in the county were invited to sign up to a reading awards scheme that enhances reading in each school through a series of achievements to tick off along the way. The scheme is different for primary and secondary and features a range of milestones to reach bronze, silver and gold.

Early years settings will also have a range of books to cover to start children learning from an early age.

Schools who achieve the gold award can become ‘beacon reading schools’, sharing their outstanding practice with others. To mark the achievement of each stage, schools will receive certificates.

Click here to find out more about World Book Day or the Wiltshire Year of Reading.