All the world's a book ...

... at least for today: World Book Day, in the UK.

This annual event of generic promotion has morphed in Britain as an opportunity to flog books to children: mentally and materially.

Prior to 1997, there was no concerted event around which the book trade -- publishers, booksellers, libraries and educators -- could coalesce. I know, I was one of the voices advocating such an event (through the channel of the ginger group, Booksn), and was a founder member of the steering committee for World Book Day.

The challenge has always been to involve adults more, for World Book Day to be seen as an event for all ages. The original UNESCO concept had no such problem: World Book and Copyright Day always takes place annually on 23 April, building on Catalonia's Book and Rose Fair (staged on St George's Day) and the fortuitous anniveraries falling on the date (including William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, Vladimir Nabokov and Josep Pla).

Whatever the origin, books remain vital to culture and our sense of humanity, and World Book Day provides an opportunity for that fact to be remembered.