Children across the UK and Ireland have gone to school in fancy dress to take part in the celebration, which aims to promote literacy among children.
Over 4,000 booksellers have taken part in the day’s celebrations, with over 400 independent bookshops and retailers gifting £1/€1.50 vouchers to help encourage parents and children to buy a book.
Just one in three (34.6%) of eight to 18-year-olds say they enjoy reading in their free time, the lowest since the National Literacy Trust began its annual survey in 2005.
This year’s theme, ‘Read Your Way,’ “encourages everyone to let go of reading pressures and expectations, and empowers children and young people to have fun discovering reading on their own terms,” said organisers.
“This powerful theme speaks to a recent resurgence of readers finding a deeper, more sensory connection in physical books over digital copies, and underscores the importance of making this experience accessible to everyone,” said Carlotta Maria Basile, workspace and production marketing manager at Canon UKI.
She said that in an overly saturated digital world, printers have a golden opportunity to make a significant and memorable impact on readers with fast-turnaround short-run books reacting to the world around them.
“The capabilities of printing on-demand have opened entirely new opportunities to engage young people in the publishing world, and nurture the next generation of avid readers, authors and publishers,” she said.
“For example, the UK literacy charity, Topic Heroes relies on short-run print production to power its online book service. Topic Heroes invites children to write their own stories and then have the manuscript printed to share with peers and their school community.”
Louise Stephenson, managing director of Where The Trade Buys (WTTB), said that more and more people were realising the value of producing their own book – without need for agent or mainstream publisher.
“World Book Day turns the attention on the skill of well known writers and creators, but there are probably hundreds more out there who haven’t had a break or simply don’t know how to go about bringing their story to life,” she said.
“Now it’s easier than ever to do that by self-publishing, with some authors having a huge amount of success in going down that route.
“We hope that World Book Day will give anyone thinking that they have a story to tell the courage to put pen to paper and get publishing.”
Book printing was recently brought to public attention with Clays’ prime-time television feature on the BBC’s Inside the Factory, hosted by Paddy McGuinness, Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman.
Focusing on hardback book production at the Bungay printer, the episode saw general manager David Hancy tour McGuinness and Healey around the facility, where they were amazed by the scale and complexity of the operation.
Speaking to Printweek about the show in January, Clays sales director Vicky Ellis-Duveen said it was a “brilliant” experience.
“We are deeply honoured and thrilled to have our company featured in the BBC's new series of Inside the Factory,” she said.
“This opportunity allows us to highlight the meticulous process behind the creation of these beautiful books, while also offering viewers a broader understanding of the intricacies involved in book manufacturing as a whole.”
