Two things caught my eye from Great Britain:
Amazon Abandons Warehouse, Hordes Descend
I find this hilarious, the Guardian reported that Amazon abandoned it’s warehouse in Bristol and literally thousands ploughed through books and took as many home as they could carry. That’s one way of getting rid of a back list. People drove up with crates and dollies to load up. Would I have been there? You bet! This makes the Book Giveaway Carnival look small (but it’s not, check out our entry).
The Guardian article has more fun pictures
Pausing to Celebrate Reading on World Book Day
Today is World Book Day in Great Britain and Ireland. This a terrific non-profit program that promotes reading by giving students one pound book tokens that can be redeemed for specially printed books or used to reduce the price of other books. One of the choices is a “flip book” for Rick Riorden’s Jackson Percy and the Sword of Hades. Participating bookstores along with school book clubs and fairs carry the special books. But all bookstores accept the book tokens, nice way to drive traffic. There are events celebrating the day all across Great Britain and Ireland. What a great way to encourage people to read!
World Book Day is an international event sponsored in part by UNESCO and is celebrated on different days throughout the world. It started from a tradition in Catalonia when on St. George’s Day people exchanged books and roses. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the US to participate in World Book Day? One can always dream.
Tags: Amazon, Great Britain, Ireland, World Book Day
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Oh, what a site! I would have been right in there, grabbing as many as could!
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