Information for Libraries

Guide to organising and publicising your event for World Book Day 2010

World Book Day takes place on Thursday 4th March 2010. For more than a decade millions of readers, young and old, have shared the thrill of a good read on World Book Day; Ireland’s largest reading event.

If you are thinking of holding a book event, please note that it can take place anytime during the month of March. So if you haven’t yet thought about organising something, then read on for some tips to help you get started.

Hundreds of book events will take place up and down the country to celebrate World Book Day. Log onto the events section for details as they are updated.

The selection includes An Buachaill Bó by Gillian Perdue/The Witch Apprentice by Marian Broderick (O’Brien Press), which will be published specially for Ireland with one story in Irish and one in English. (age 8+) For the first time children will be able to enjoy the €1.50 Books being read to them by authors and actors through a new online initiative, Read to a Million Kids. Log onto www.worldbookday.com for details of how to register and tune in to the readings.

Other flipbooks feature brand new and exclusive stories from popular authors. Those likely to appeal to younger readers include Darcey Bussell’s Magic Ballerina ballet stories, Kitten Chaos By Anna Wilson, The Charlie Small Journals: Valley of Terrors and Dinosaur Cove: Battle of the Giants By Rex Stone, all for age 5+. Others include the latest Jamie Johnson featuring Dan Freedman’s football mad hero and a trip to Grubtown with Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2009 winner Philip ‘Beardy’ Ardagh. Each World Book Day €1.50 book is suitable for a different age range, from pre-school to 11+ years, so every child can enjoy at least one of the unique books being produced to celebrate the day.

Quick Reads – the major initiative which brings brilliantly written new books by bestselling writers and celebrities to people who have lost the reading habit, find reading tough or simply want a fast, fun read – celebrates its 5th anniversary on World Book Day, 4 March 2010. Bestselling authors Andy McNab, Val McDermid and Cathy Kelly, together with television personalities Rolf Harris and Alvin Hall are among the authors who provide brand-new books for the 5th anniversary list.

Event ideas

You might prefer to hold an adult reading or children’s event or both.

Some of the more popular ideas include:

• Invite an author to do a reading in your library
• Organise a special book club for World Book Day
• Make a special window display – have someone reading in the window for World Book Day
• Link up with your local branch of NALA (National Adult Literacy Agency), VEC or local adult literacy group to run a Quick Reads exploration of reading
• Discuss one of the Quick Reads books in your book club

Children’s events might include:

• Fill your window with books and ask the public to guess how many there are
• Have a special family day with face painters, clowns and other entertainment in-store.
• Arrange a competition with the local paper or radio station, where you will provide the prize, e.g. a colouring competition or design a bookmark competition for primary school children, a short story competition for older children
• Activity Hour : Children can draw pictures of their favourite characters from favourite books , write reviews of the last book they borrowed from the library or the last book they read etc etc . Perhaps these could be displayed in the Library for the month of March

Sourcing authors

Authors can be contacted through their publishers and agents. The Irish Book Publishers’ Association Cle has a full list of Irish publishers. Log onto http://www.publishingireland.com or call (01) 4151210 for further details.
The following Children’s Book organisations may also be of help
Children’s Books Ireland www.childrensbooksireland.ie
iBbY www.ibbyireland.ie

Obtaining Quick Reads promotional material

Quick Reads promotional material is available from NIACE – the UK body for promoting adult reading. Posters, bookmarks, mugs, pens and learning materials are available online as well as several fact sheets with ideas on how to hold a Quick Reads event with examples of how learning providers have used Quick Reads. Click through to Quick Reads then click on ‘for more information click here’ and lastly the ‘resources’ link to register your interest and receive a free promotional pack. Alternatively, just click on the following link. http://www.niace.org.uk/quickreads/user/index.php

Any other enquiries about Quick Reads material can be sent to quickreads@niace.org.uk

Publicising your event

Many of you will already be involved in your local communities and will know someone in local NEWSPAPER or RADIO station and have a relationship with them. Some of you won’t. It makes no difference. For the purpose of World Book Day, here are some hints on getting the coverage that you are looking for your event.

Make the journalist’s life as easy as possible and help get your story covered;

WHAT A JOURNALIST WANTS

• Local interest stories which will increase readership/listenership
• Clear concise releases – no waffle
• An appreciation of deadlines - find out when they need the information.
• Contact details for further information and date of issue
• An easy life

THE DATE AND TIME OF DAY OF YOUR EVENT

• If you are organising an event, then it must be held at a time of the day which suits the press, otherwise there will be a poor turn-out and little coverage.
• There are two rules for the choice of date and time:
  1. Try to avoid clashing with some other major event or press function.
  2. Try to choose a day which satisfies copy date needs. Day of the week is important because the most local newspapers will go to print on a Monday/ Tuesday. If you can get your stories to them on a Thursday/Friday then you have a much better chance of getting printed.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND CAPTIONS

Editors want pictures that enhance the page and flatter their ability to please the readers. They also want pictures that reproduce well according to the printing process and paper they use.

A public relations picture should convey a message, not be a mere record. It should not be a blatant advertising message and product or company names – if shown at all – should be discreet.

All photos should be sent out with captions. Ideally photos should be emailed in a high resolution format with an attached caption, with details including, name, address, age (if appropriate) and the event itself. Don’t forget to mention that it is for World Book Day.

If you would like your event listed on the WorldBookDay web page please submit details of the event to worldbookdayireland@gmail.com . The events page will be updated every day from the 12th of February

WRITING NEWS STORIES AND PRESS RELEASES

All public relations materials should be of interest and value to the reader. The easiest way to learn how to write a news release is to read the news columns of a newspaper - the 5 ‘W’s.

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE AND WHY

• Who is the story about
• What happened
• When did it happen
• Where did it happen
• Why did it happen
• (What were the consequences?)

GUIDELINES

• Focus on the key element.
• Work out carefully the first sentence/paragraph.
• Assemble your material so that it descends naturally from the “intro”, with the most important or newsworthy information first and then the rest in descending order of importance below

THE INVERTED PYRAMID

• Puts all the key facts first and then gradually tapers down into a descending order of additional explanatory sentences and background information
• It saves journalists from a lot of rewriting, with the last paragraphs lopped off easily without losing the key elements of the story.

HEADLINES - THEIR IMPORTANCE

• Indicate the essence of the copy under the headline
• Attract interest of potential reader
• Short, evocative words are used
• Almost always contain a verb in the present, active tense
• There is usually a subject

IMPROVING YOUR CHANCES OF PUBLICATION

• Issue stories of genuine interest to a media’s readership/listenership
• Send to relevant journalists only
• Keep your press release to one page (if possible)
• Accompanying photos should take account of local media style and content and include a relevant local angle
• Respect deadlines
• Include contact name and telephone number
• Follow-up with telephone call to see if they need more information

NO MATTER WHAT YOUR EVENT FOR WORLD BOOK DAY – REMEMBER THESE KEY MEDIA MESSAGES!

• World Book Day 2010 marks 13 years of promoting reading in Ireland 
• It is a 100% Irish run event by The Irish Booksellers Association
• It is a month long promotion between March 1st and March 28th which also includes Quick Reads and Library Ireland Week 
• There is a free €1.50 book voucher to every school child in Ireland 
• The free voucher is a gift from booksellers all over the country