Ten years - well, ten years as of September - we have been giving away books in the Netherlands and the UK and no-one is writing headlines about what we do. We are not sponsored by anyone except those few publishers who understand that sending us their foreign language reading copies and copies of their titles in translation is probably a Good Idea.
For ten years we have been giving books to organisations such as Crisis, Shelter, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, the Cyrenians, Womens Aid and all manner of small local groups helping refugees and those hoping to get asylum. Not to mention Barnado's, the YMCA, youth clubs and homework clubs. We continue to try to get a bookshelf into community centres and clubs, and promise to fill and refill the shelves as necessary.
Letting each place decide whether to make it a library or simply a 'free books' shelf is up to them. The main aims are (1) to prevent the destruction of perfectly good books and (2) to make books easily available to people who might not otherwise make the effort to go out and find them.
And - since we never know what we will get, if someone enjoys a book by a certain author, we can encourage them to go to the library to find more.
So, what will I be doing on World Book Day/Night? - Wishing I hadn't given away the wheelbarrow when I moved to the UK!
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