Witness History18 Apr 2025

The origin of World Book Day

In November 1995, a proposal of having an annual day focused on celebrating books was put forward at the UNESCO conference in Paris.

The idea came from a long-established Spanish celebration ‘The Day of Books and Roses’.

The first World Book Day was on 23 April 1996.

Although some countries now celebrate World Book Day on different dates, it’s marked on 23 April in the majority of countries.

Pere Vicens is a book publisher from Barcelona in Spain and one of the creators of World Book Day. He tells Gill Kearsley the origins of this now annual event.

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(Photo: World Book Day in Spain. Credit: John MIlner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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