‘Take 15 Minutes’ for Book Week NI 2019
Book Week NI, a week-long celebration of books and reading, returns from Monday 14 - Sunday 20 October. Now in its fourth year, Book Week NI is a joint initiative between Libraries NI and BBC Northern Ireland. It celebrates the many pleasures and benefits of reading and how books and libraries can provide people with points of connection and discovery.
Published: 11 October 2019
Book Week NI has gone from strength to strength and it’s great to be continuing our partnership with Libraries NI. I hope everyone gets involved in engaging in reading for 15 minutes every day and share their experiences with #BookWeekNI
This year, everyone is invited to get involved with Book Week NI by taking 15 minutes each day to read something different or new, or to start reading again.
People can read on the commute to work, finding a quiet place at lunchtime, taking time out after dinner or at bedtime. And the reading opportunities are endless - poetry, fiction, biography, audiobooks, newspapers and magazines.
Parents and grandparents are also being encouraged to take 15 minutes of reading time with younger members of their families, helping them to get the reading habit and to access all the benefits that it provides.
Everyone can get involved on social media by posting #BookWeekNI and #ReadFor15 and tagging @LibrariesNI and @BBCnireland on Twitter, @LibrariesNorthernIreland and @BBCNI on Facebook and @librariesni and @bbcni on Instagram.
Throughout the week, BBC Northern Ireland and Libraries NI will also invite people to hashtag #BookWeekNI to share details of their favourite books, their book recommendations, favourite authors, literary characters, book spaces and libraries.
During Book Week NI, BBC Northern Ireland will be discussing books and reading across its content on BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle and BBC Newsline.
On Thursday 17 October Joe Lindsay meets author and award-winning visual artist Oliver Jeffers in the documentary Oliver Jeffers - Here We Are… BBC Arts NI Presents on BBC Two NI at 10pm. The programme gains unparalleled access to Oliver as he reflects on how world events and parenthood have impacted on his work, as he exhibits across London, Paris and New York.
Joe talks to Oliver about his life and career highlights, including his successful children’s books.
Stephen Clements will bring his BBC Radio Ulster programme live from the Holywood Arches Library in Belfast on Friday 18 October from 10.30am, where he’ll meet a Knit And Natter group, hear about the importance of CS Lewis to this part of the city, chat with local authors about the importance of reading and meet the people for whom the library is a valued and much loved facility.
On BBC Northern Ireland’s social media channels, Tim McGarry, Tara Mills, US Consul General Elizabeth Kennedy-Trudeau, journalist, author and broadcaster Eamonn Mallie, writer Glenn Patterson and new BBC Radio Ulster presenters DearbhailMcDonald, Gemma Bradley, Stephen Clements and Kathy Clugston will also be talking about reading and their favourite books.
And to celebrate the rich literary talent that Northern Ireland has to offer, Libraries NI will put on a series of activities and will be hosting special Meet The Author events across its libraries, with popular local authors including Angeline King, Stuart Neville and Steve Kavanagh.
Peter Johnston, Director, BBC Northern Ireland, says: "Book Week NI has gone from strength to strength, and it’s great to be continuing our partnership with Libraries NI as it marks its fourth anniversary. This partnership perfectly complements the essence of the BBC’s public purpose of informing, educating and entertaining as books and reading do this and so much more. I hope everyone gets involved in engaging in reading for 15 minutes every day and share their experiences with #BookWeekNI."
Jim O’Hagan, Libraries NI Chief Executive, says: "Libraries NI is delighted to once again partner with BBC Northern Ireland to deliver the fourth Book Week NI. The emphasis this year is on inspiring people of all ages to discover or rediscover the joy of reading by encouraging them to pledge to read for a minimum of 15 minutes during the week, and preferably for 15 minutes each day of the week.
"To encourage this, Libraries NI will focus on a different theme each day with suggestions of books, eBooks and eMagazines to read including a day dedicated to local authors. Libraries across Northern Ireland will also host various Book Week NI events so whether you read in libraries, in a coffee shop or anywhere else, I would urge everyone to get involved, pick up a book and read for 15 minutes."
For further information on Book Week NI and all that is taking place in libraries throughout the week, including other Meet The Author events, please visit www.librariesni.org.uk
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