World Book and Copyright Day - April 23, 2004
By celebrating this Day throughout the world, UNESCO seeks to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejيa Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. The success of the World Book and Copyright Day will depend primarily on the support received from all parties concerned (authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media), who have been mobilized in each country by UNESCO National Commissions, UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, Associated Schools and Libraries, and by all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors.
World Book and Copyright Day: Book promotion in Senegal Project
UNESCO will celebrate World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April. With the help of publishers, booksellers, teachers, librarians and communication experts, more than a hundred countries will take part in this ninth World Day. This year, the countless plans for celebrations include a project by the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity - which groups UNESCO, the Maxi-Livres publisher/bookseller and the non-governmental organization Culture and Development - consisting of a special sale throughout the Maxi-Livres Franco-Belgian network aimed at financing a donation of African publishers’ books to libraries in Senegal. A cheque for the sum accruing from the sale will be handed over at a presentation of the project at UNESCO House (Room V) on 22 April (9h30 - 11 a.m.).