New Zealand's Book Night
The Book Discussion Scheme (BDS) is launching the first-ever Book Night on Tuesday 24 May. The event has been set up to motivate people throughout New Zealand to spend part of their evening reading.
Individuals, families and groups can take part by reading a book, magazine, comic or an e-book for at least 15 minutes any time during the evening of 24 May.
The idea behind the event, which the BDS hopes to run annually, is to connect readers around the country and highlight the benefits of regular reading.
“Gather up your whanau or book group, invite your friends over, or just curl up with your cat or dog!” says Barbara Brown, manager of the Book& Discussion Scheme.
“Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success, according to research by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development),” says Barbara.
“Regular reading also helps keep adults mentally alert and has positive effects on memory, on stress levels, and our aptitude for imagination and compassion,” she says.
Readers who take part in the event can email a message and (optional) photograph or ‘selfie’ to the BDS website. Online registration automatically enters them into a prize draw for book vouchers to the value of $150, sponsored by business solutions software company Chreos. Second prize is a $75 book voucher from Christchurch-based printing company Printmax.
Details of the event can be found on the Book Discussion Scheme website www.bds.org.nz.
Book Discussion Scheme is the only nationwide book group organisation in New Zealand and has more than 1100 registered book groups for adults, ESOL speakers and migrants, prisoners, and high school and tertiary students. It lends book sets and discussion notes for more than 850 fiction and non-fiction titles.
The Scheme has been promoting reading for more than 40 years and operates from the Christchurch suburb of Sydenham, where it houses more than 40,000 books.
Read more about the research into the benefits of reading for pleasure.