"Minister Lourens: Take time out to read to your children"
GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Wednesday, 23rd April is World Book and Copyright Day. It was first proclaimed on that day back in 1995 by the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and it has been celebrated by various countries across the globe since its launch.
Minister of Education Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip says the day is an opportunity for all who love reading to reflect.
The day will be observed by millions of people from various organizations, schools, public bodies, professional groups and private sector businesses throughout the world.
By reflecting on the day, many around the globe have come to discover and make the most of and explore in greater depth a multitude of aspects of the publishing world: books as vectors of values and knowledge, and depositories of the intangible heritage; books as windows onto the diversity of cultures and as tools for dialogue; books as sources of material of wealth and copyright-protected works of creative artists.
Since 2000, World Book and Copyright Day has inspired another initiative of professional organizations which receives the assistance of UNESCO and backing from States: World Book Capital City.
Each year a city is chosen which undertakes to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day's celebrations until 23 April of the following year. Almost all the regions of the world, in turn, have already been involved in this process, which thus transforms the celebration of books and copyright into a recurrent activity, extending still further the geographical and cultural influence of books.
For 2014, Port Harcourt in Nigeria has been named World Book Capital City. The city was chosen on account of the quality of its programme, in particular its focus on youth and the impact it will have on improving Nigeria's culture of books, reading, writing and publishing to improve literacy rates.
"I call on teachers, parents and guardians, to take time out on World Book and Copyright Day to read with pupils and children in recognition of this special day. Let's rally around books and all the local writers who have published works and commend them for their efforts and to continue with this embodiment of human creativity," Minister of Education Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip said on Tuesday.
