It could be argued that what separates humans from other intelligent lifeforms is that we have the ability through books to record our knowledge and pass it on from generation to generation, country to country, person to person. Through the written word each generation is freed from having to learn from their own experiences or survive on instincts alone.
Whether it is scientific information, lofty literature, amazing poetry or any other form of information or data, the ability to write it down, store it and share it is critical to modern human development.
World Book Day was created on April 23rd, 1995, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The connection between that date and books, however, was made in Spain in 1923, as it is the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, prominent Spanish Chronicler.
World Book Day has a strong connection with schools, and it’s used worldwide to allow school children to engage with reading and their favorite books. But it can and should also be a day for adults who may have neglected their reading, spending increasing amounts of time on their phones, tablets or in front of streaming services to rediscover what they loved about books and reading.
Rotary International has Basic Education and Literacy as one of it’s seven core focus areas. Integral to many of the thousands of Rotary projects worldwide in this area is the provision of books to those who would otherwise have difficulty getting them.
Find out more about World Book Day at https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldbookday and find out more about Rotary’s focus on Basic Education and Literacy at https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/supporting-education