Thousands of free books for schools up for grabs

World of Books – Sharing the Love of Reading

• Coventry-based World of Books Group are giving away thousands of free books to hundreds of schools throughout the UK, as part of their pledge to donate 1 million books to good causes by end of 2020.
• ~200 UK schools are due to receive 70,000 books in their biggest single giveaway
• Sharing the love of reading and helping to improve literacy skills, in support of the World Book day mission to give every child a book of their own

With the UK’s largest annual celebration of reading for pleasure approaching, it’s a good time to reflect on the importance of books and the part they play in schools, education and literacy.

On March 5th, thousands of children and families will be celebrating books and reading on World Book Day.

This year, the charity behind the biggest celebration of books and reading is calling on everyone in the UK and Ireland to share stories for 10 minutes a day in schools, libraries, bookshops, at home, everywhere and anywhere, to Share a Million Stories together through World Book Day month (27 February-29 March).

In support of this, World of Books’ Big Book Giveaway aims to ensure that even more children are able to share the love of reading. Thousands of used books will be delivered to ~200 schools throughout the UK. This is just one of the initiatives planned to meet their pledge of donating 1 million books to good causes by the end of 2020.

Amy Greenacre, Head of Brand and Impact: ‘Books are more than paper and ink, the stories and knowledge they contain is critical to individual development, economic development, community and emotional well-being. We want to ensure that as many children as possible have the opportunity to experience this, with a book in their hand this World Book Day.’

World of Books donations are being made at a time when schools are under pressure from funding and resource cuts. The National Literacy Trust cites that 1 in 11 disadvantaged children in the UK don’t have a book of their own and the OECD indicates that teenage literacy rates in England are some of the lowest in the developed world. The World Literacy Foundation also report that 25% of British children aged 5 years struggle with basic vocabulary.