Public Libraries
How to get involved with World Book Day. If you are a school librarian please also visit our educators page.
How to get involved with World Book Day. If you are a school librarian please also visit our educators page.
Libraries play a unique role in promoting reading in communities. As a free (at point of use) public service they can provide a stepping-stone to engagement with reading and book buying for less engaged readers and disadvantaged communities. Working together, World Book Day and libraries can promote reading, help change attitudes to book accessibility and encourage engagement with book shops and the wider world of books overall.
We want to support libraries to use World Book Day to promote reading and library membership across the UK & Ireland. Here are just some of the ways that you can do this:
If you’d like to review our 2025 public libraries toolkit click here
In 2024 we collaborated with 20 libraries to create community exchange hubs where children could swap their book token for a £1 World Book Day book with no ongoing pressure to spend. Each library had 1200 books to give. Long-term, this intervention supports families in starting a life-changing reading habit. Library locations were chosen based on their distance to local booksellers.
We collaborated with libraries to create, promote and deliver Read Your Way events with inspirational results. There were reading journals, dress-up for hire and even a Sky News broadcast! An enormous thank you to the tremendous librarians who made this happen.
Looking for something to wear for World Book Day?
Explore our World Book Day shop, filled with organic cotton clothing and unique gifts for book lovers. Shop exclusive designs from talented artists and illustrators, including Vivian Truong, Tatty Devine, and Anita Mangan.
Every purchase helps the charity World Book Day® encourage more children to enjoy reading, and experience the life-changing benefits it brings.
World Book Day shopThe announcement of the 2026 titles is in September. Check back for the big reveal.
Click here for the Terms & Conditions for participating in World Book Day.
REGISTERING FOR TOKENS
If your library has received tokens in the past, this may have been from BookTrust’s BookStart coordinators and so it may be best to get in contact with them.
2025 £1/€1.50 booksLibraries run brilliant World Book Day events to encourage families to enjoy reading for fun. Please add your events to our map so that we can help more children and young people to enjoy them.
Events map