Alex Hughes: Tbilisi will be the UNESCO World Book Capital for 2021 (from April for 12 months) and they have asked Bristol to be involved in the programme. We are looking at ways our Library Services can share their experiences of promoting their offer to children and young people, as well as involving Bristol based children’s authors/publishers and some of the local cutting edge digital projects which use books as a starting point. 

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, named Tbilisi (Georgia) World Book Capital for the year 2021, based on the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee, which met in Switzerland in June, 2019.

Around the slogan Ok. So your next book is…? the programme focuses on the use of modern technologies as powerful tools for the promotion of reading among young people.

The programme comprises several important, large-scale and sustainable activities involving libraries and a book festival for children, a state-of-the-art digital project for transforming books into games, and the rebuilding of the first Georgian publishing house.

Specifically designed for children, youngsters and readers who have limited access to books, the programme of activities will be driven by innovation. The city's principal objective is to popularize reading and increase accessibility to books throughout society.

The year of celebrations will start on 23 April 2021, on the World Book and Copyright Day.

Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital undertake to promote books and reading and to organize activities over the year. As the twenty-first city to bear the title since 2001, Tbilisi follows Kuala Lumpur (2020) and Sharjah (2019). Past winners include Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Anvers (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam(2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Erevan (2012), Bangkok (2013), Port Harcourt (2014), Incheon (2015), Wroclaw (2016), Conakry (2017) and Athens (2018).

The Advisory Committee nominating the World Book Capital city is made up of representatives of the International Publisher's Association (IPA), the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and UNESCO.

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UNESCO media contact : Bernard Giansetto,  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (link sends e-mail) - +33 (0)1 45 68 17 64

Tbilisi named World Book Capital 2021 (unesco.org)