World Book Day UK began in 1998, launched by Prime Minister Tony Blair at The Globe Theatre in London. Several million schoolchildren in Great Britain were given a £1 special World Book Day Book Token (€1.50 in Ireland) which could be redeemed against any book in any UK bookseller. A specially created WBD anthology priced at £1 (€1.50 in Ireland) was also published. All World Book Day point of sale and the £1 book carried the special World Book Day logo to help unify the initiative through all outlets.
Since then, World Book Day UK has followed a similar pattern, gradually growing each year to encompass more initiatives, such as Spread The Word, Quick Reads Initiative and Books for Hospitals. Every year, the number of children receiving a free £1 World Book Day Book Token has increased.
In 2000, instead of a single £1 special anthology, four separate £1 books were published, covering a wider age-range. Since then, each year has seen a new set of special £1 books published (see List of World Book Day Books).
In 2006, World Book Day began its support of and association with the Quick Reads[1] initiative for adult emergent readers.
In 2007, World Book Day celebrated its 10th anniversary with the publication of 10 £1 books.
In September 2007, World Book Day announced the revamp of the Spread the Word promotion for 2008 into an on-line book group featuring a number of adult books which would be suitable to book Groups. A short list of 10 titles was announced on 1 February 2008, and the winning book, Boy A by Jonathan Trigell (published by Serpent's Tail) was revealed on World Book Day 2008, 6 March 2008.[2] World Book Day 2008 was declared by The Bookseller magazine to be more successful than any previous World Book Day[3]
World Book Day is a registered charity.[4] It does not raise funds for itself but does support Book Aid International[5] and Readathon as its nominated charities, encouraging schools to hold special fundraising events for children less fortunate than themselves. World Book Day is not funded by the British Government although the Quick Reads element does receive support from ACE, DIUS and NIACE. The funding for World Book Day activities comes principally from the major sponsor, National Book Tokens[6] and the UK book trade (publishers and booksellers).