World Book Day 2022: History, theme for UNESCO's World Book and Copyright Day celebration

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organises World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day with the objective to encourage reading, publishing, and copyright. World Book Day is organised across the world, including India, on April 23.

UNESCO selects a World Book Capital during World Book Day for one year. The selected capital city conducts various activities to celebrate and encourage reading. In 2022, Guadalajara, Mexico was selected as World Book Capital. Recently, the UN organisation has shared information regarding the World Digital Library on social media, as part of the World Book Day event, providing free access to thousands of books, documents and photos from around the world.

A book is a bridge between generations and across cultures, a force for creating & sharing knowledge.

One click to the World Digital Library for free access to thousands of books, documents & photos from all countries & cultures.

✨ https://t.co/0YQora8TRJ #WorldBookDay pic.twitter.com/8knNI094vB

— UNESCO ?️ #Education #Sciences #Culture ??? (@UNESCO) April 21, 2022

World Book Day 2022 theme, significance

World Book Day 2022 theme is “You are a reader”. The aim of conducting World Book Day is to motivate children across the world, especially those from the underprivileged and marginalised communities to develop reading habits for their intellectual growth and amusement.

World Book Day 2022 history

April 23 was selected by UNESCO to organise World Book Day to honour many literary personalities like William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, who died on April 23 and Miguel de Cervantes on April 22. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on April 23, 1995.

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"On World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO calls on its partners to share the message that books are a force to address contemporary challenges, to understand political and economic realities, and to combat inequalities and misinformation," says the World Book Day webpage on UNESCO website.

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