The University of West Georgia’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion and Ingram Library enthusiastically participated in World Book Night on April 23, 2014, in the Carroll County area for the second year in a row after being selected by the World Book Night Organization.
(from L to R) Front row: Jessica Ramirez, Nancy Watkins, Cheryl Hill, Julie Dobbs. Back Row: Ashley Lewis, Deirdre Rouse, Jennifer Sutton , Laurie Aycock, Doris Kieh and Catherine Hendrix (not pictured: Robert Brice)
April 23 is a symbolic date for world literature. It is the birth and death date of William Shakespeare, as well as the death day of Cervantes, the Spanish novelist. World book Night was successfully launched in the United Kingdom in 2011 and was first celebrated in the United States in 2012.
Books are distributed on this day by WBN recipient organizations worldwide. In order to prepare and promote World Book Night’s purpose of gifting books to light to non-reading adults, local organizations were contacted in advance, seeking their participation as potential gifting sites.
The committee, including Doris Kieh, program coordinator for the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, Catherine Hendricks, coordinator of proposal development for the library, and Deirdre Rouse, acting director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, agreed to the following: give to light to non-reading adults, focus on a diverse group of local organizations in Carroll and Haralson counties that serve adults and respectfully adhere to the requirements of the WBN criteria including no prior publicity.
UWG’s 14 World Book Night volunteers, attired in WBN t-shirts, were equipped with copies of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow. Inside each book was a WBN recipient letter and bookmark. Due to the number of sites on our WBN agenda, our volunteers were committed to distributing books from 9:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
The WBN volunteers were able to deliver to the following local organizations: Temple Senior Center, Carrollton Senior Center, Carroll County Soup Kitchen, Men’s Shelter, Open Hands, Catherine Hardy Recreation Center, Carrollton Housing Authority (Thomas Homes), Carroll County Emergency Shelter, Bowdon Senior Center, Bremen Food Bank, Whitesburg Library, Villa Rica Senior Center, Neva Lomason Library, Villa Rica Library, Carroll County Correction and the Adult Literacy.
Many World Book Night recipients were thrilled to receive a “new book” for their enjoyment. “A few days after we delivered books to the local senior center, I encountered a recipient in the community who said to me, ‘I like how you and all the people who came to our center spent time with us instead of just dropping off the books. It showed me that y’all really care about people. We need more of that,’” says Deirdre. “Needless to say she just made my day!”
“I love that World Book Night leads me to venture into parts of our community that I too rarely see,” adds Catherine. “I am always touched by the way we are received and by the response we get when we offer a book. I was elated when a lady at the Carrollton Senior Center told me that she read Salvage the Bones last year and recommended it to other people. Isn't that what we want? People being touched by stories and wanting others to have the same experience?”
