Book lovers across Wales will join together to celebrate World Book Day, which takes place this year on 5 March 2020.
Book lovers across Wales will join together to celebrate World Book Day, which takes place this year on 5 March 2020.
The Books Council of Wales is inviting schools, bookshops, colleges, libraries, businesses and households to join the largest annual celebration of books and reading in the United Kingdom and Ireland, by taking part in activities and events across Wales and by simply sharing in the pleasure of reading.
To mark World Book Day 2020, the Books Council of Wales has announced the publication of two special edition books for children in Welsh, available to buy for just £1, or children can redeem their £1 World Book Day book token in exchange for one of the books. These titles will also be available in accessible braille, large print and audio versions, thanks to the support of the RNIB.
Darllen gyda Cyw, written by Anni Llŷn and published by Y Lolfa, follows the tales of popular S4C favourites Cyw and her friends and is aimed at younger Welsh readers, and families learning Welsh with young children.
Stori Cymru – Iaith a Gwaith, written by the Archdruid of Wales Myrddin ap Dafydd and published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, tells the history of Wales and the work of its people through story, image and song.
Storytelling and sharing stories is also an important theme for World Book Day in 2020 with a UK-wide campaign to launch a ‘reading revolution’ by sharing a million stories. Anyone can participate in the campaign: families, schools, bookshops and libraries, nurseries, etc. Once registered at worldbookday.com/share-a-million-stories participants are able to find out everything they need to know, including guidelines, FAQs, story-sharing tips and information on what counts as a story share.
As part of the celebrations, the Books Council of Wales has launched a special Top Trumps-style game for children across Wales, featuring characters from Welsh books old and new. The battle cards, which feature some Welsh favourites such as Sam Tân and Siôn Blewyn Coch, will bring a smile of nostalgia to the faces of parents too.
The Council will also mark World Book Day with two special events for children at Theatr Felinfach in Ceredigion on 4 March and the Riverfront Theatre in Newport on 5 March.
School children from across the region will be invited to attend Theatr Felinfach to share a story with Welsh authors and illustrators, including Myrddin ap Dafydd, Casia Wiliam, Aneirin Karadog, Huw Aaron and Elidir Jones.
On World Book Day itself, children will attend the Riverfront Theatre for a further story-sharing event with BBC Wales presenter and children’s author Lucy Owen, storyteller and author Atinuke, Mark Llewelyn Evans, author of ABC of Opera, and Rhondda writer and illustrator Siôn Tomos Owen.
And at a special event in Llandudno on Thursday 5 March 2020, a panel of six experts will discuss the benefits of ‘bibliotherapy’ where self-help books are used to support mental health and wellbeing.
The World Book Day campaign in Wales is coordinated by the Books Council of Wales and supported by the Welsh Government and Waterstones. Every year, with a host of publishers and booksellers, World Book Day curates a list of bespoke £1 books for children and young people across the UK and Ireland. World Book Day’s mission is to encourage children and young people to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.
As well as distributing the tokens to nurseries and schools, from Wednesday 5 February to Tuesday 17 March, the £1 World Book Day token will also feature on every single McDonald’s Happy Meal™ box across the UK and Ireland. Children and families can swap it for one of a wide range of World Book Day free books, including the Welsh-language books, or get £1 off a book or audiobook costing £2.99 or more, at their local participating bookshop or supermarket between 27 February and 29 March.
How can books benefit our mental health? That’s the topic for debate at this year’s annual World Book Day event organised by the Books Council of Wales.
At Venue Cymru in Llandudno on Thursday 5 March 2020, a panel of six experts will discuss the benefits of ‘bibliotherapy’ where self-help books are used to support mental health and wellbeing.
A wide range of books is available as part of the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme, which provides helpful reading to support health and wellbeing on a variety of topics including mental health and dementia.
The scheme is delivered by The Reading Agency in partnership with public libraries across Wales and England, with the Books Council of Wales ensuring that a selection of the books is available in the Welsh language as well as in English.
The Reading Well Books on Prescription for mental health scheme provides useful information and support for managing common mental health conditions or dealing with difficult feelings and experiences.
Some of the books also include personal stories from people who live with or care for someone with mental health needs.
Book reviewer and editor Bethan Mair will chair the discussion panel for World Book Day. “Books are my world,” said Bethan “but my life has also been blighted by periods of depression and anxiety. It isn’t always easy to talk about these things, even more so when you’re used to wearing a ‘nothing-wrong-here’ mask in public. But knowing you’re not alone, and that other sufferers have come through the experience, can be a huge comfort.
“Self-healing is an important element in all mental health treatments,” she added “yet we must have a helping hand to heal – and a book can always be at hand. The Reading Well Books on Prescription come in all shapes and sizes, for all kinds of situations, and this pioneering provision in Welsh can only be a force for good. I’m looking forward very much to chairing a lively, informative and revealing discussion on an issue which touches so many lives.”
Other panel members include:
• Manon Elin James – a founding member of the meddwl.org website which provides support and information on mental health disorders through the medium of Welsh.
• Bethan Hughes – Principal Librarian at Denbighshire Libraries who leads on the well-being agenda and the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme across Wales.
• Sharon Marie Jones – a children’s author who has written extensively about her grief and mental health following the death of her five-year-old son in a car accident in 2016.
• Dr Harri Pritchard – an experienced GP and a regular contributor to the media on medical issues.
• Angharad Tomos – an award-winning writer who has written about her severe postnatal depression.
Chief Executive of the Books Council of Wales, Helgard Krause, said: “World Book Day is an opportunity to celebrate the written word and to reflect on how reading can be good for us on so many levels. At a time of increasing debate around mental health problems, we are proud to be working with The Reading Agency and Welsh Government to promote the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme in Wales. All of the self-help books in this scheme have been endorsed by health experts and it is vitally important to ensure that this high-quality material is also available in Welsh.”
Debbie Hicks MBE, Creative Director at The Reading Agency, said: “One in four of us will face a mental health issue at some point in our lives. This World Book Day, we are delighted to be showcasing the proven power of reading to help people understand and manage their mental health and wellbeing. We are proud to work with the Books Council of Wales and public libraries to deliver Reading Well Books on Prescription in Wales, enabling the scheme to reach even more people in Welsh and English.”
The World Book Day event will open with a reception at 6pm at Venue Cymru in Llandudno on Thursday 5 March 2020, followed by the discussion at 6.30pm.
All titles in the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme are available to borrow from public libraries throughout Wales. They can also be recommended by health and social care professionals to support treatment.
Representatives from 12 book publishing companies across Wales attended a special training session at Castell Brychan, Aberystwyth, in February 2020 on international metadata standards for the book sector.
Representatives from 12 book publishing companies across Wales attended a special training session at Castell Brychan, Aberystwyth, in February 2020 on international metadata standards for the book sector.
The event was organised by the Books Council of Wales as part of its annual programme of training for the publishing sector.
The training was provided by EDItEUR, the organisation which specialises in book metadata, identifiers and e-commerce standards – particularly ONIX, the internationally recognised standard for sharing metadata for books, e-books and audiobooks.
Head of Business and Finance at the Books Council of Wales, Mererid Boswell, said: “Technological advances are developing very quickly in the publishing industry as in other areas, and it is vitally important that publishers are familiar with the latest systems. By using ONIX to its full potential, it is possible to ensure that books are discovered easily and efficiently – thereby increasing sales. This is particularly relevant for smaller publishers or titles in minority languages such as Welsh.”
Garmon Gruffudd, Chair of Cwlwm Cyhoeddwyr Cymru which represents Welsh-medium publishers, said: “It’s good to see that the Books Council is investing in training for publishers, particularly in international fields such as ONIX and the importance of metadata in terms of identifying, discovering and selling books.”
The training session also introduced participants to Thema, the new global book subject classification for the trade, and ISNI, the international standard name identifier.
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