World Book Day

世界讀書日

Reading books brings with it numerous benefits giving people the opportunity to explore new worlds and meet new people both real and imagined. It expands our knowledge and understanding of the world around us and those far away.

To celebrate the wonderment of books and those who engage in creative work， the United Nations Educational， Scientific and Cultural Organization （UNESCO） established 23 April as World Book and Copyright Day in 1995. However， it got its start long before that in Spain.

Setting aside a day to celebrate books traces its beginnings to Spanish writer Vicente Clavel Andrés. In 1922 he proposed the idea as a way to honor fellow countryman author Miguel de Cervantes. Four years later the first celebration took place on 7 October， Cervantes birthday， but was moved to 23 April， the date of his death， in 1930.

讀書益處多多，它讓人們有機會探索新世界，邂逅現實和想象的新朋友。它拓展我們的知識面，增進我們對周邊和遙遠世界的了解。

為了宣傳圖書以及那些從事創作的作者們，1995年聯合國教科文組織將4月23日定為“世界圖書和版權日”。不過早在多年前，西班牙就設立讀書日了。

專門留出一天來慶祝書籍的想法源于西班牙作家維森特·克拉維爾·安德里斯。1922年他提出設立讀書日來紀念同為西班牙作家的米格爾·德·塞萬提斯（見上圖）。四年后，第一個讀書日的慶祝活動在10月7日也就是塞萬提斯的生日當天舉行，1930年改在塞萬提斯逝世那天也就是4月23日舉行。

In 1995， the UNESCO General Conference decided to pay homage to authors and books world-wide as a way of encouraging everyone to access books. Choosing 23 April seemed a logical choice， besides being the date of Cervantes death， it also happens to be the date William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died， among other prominent authors. Additionally， several distinguished authors were born on 23 April making it a symbolic date in the world literature.

Annually since 2001， one city around the world is chosen to be the UNESCO World Book Capital for a year. The selected city is tasked with carrying out activities over its year-long designation to encourage “a culture of reading and diffusing its values in all ages and population groups in and out of the national borders”.

The initiative was put forward by Spain in 2001， and Madrid was designated the first capital， followed by Alexandria and then New Delhi. Following those designations cities are chosen each year by the Director-General of UNESCO in consultation with an advisory committee made up of representatives from international organizations representing authors， libraries and publishers.

1995年，聯合國教科文組織大會決定向全球的作家和書籍致敬，以此來鼓勵人們多讀書。將4月23日作為世界讀書日似乎是一個合情合理的選擇，因為它不但是塞萬提斯去世的日子，也正好是威廉·莎士比亞（見下圖）和印卡·加西拉索·德拉維加兩位著名作家去世的日子。還有幾位杰出作家則是在4月23日出生的，這讓4月23日成為世界文學史上很有紀念意義的一天。

自2001年起，每年全球都有一個城市被選為聯合國教科文組織的世界圖書之都，為期一年。被選中的城市的任務是在接下來的一年開展鼓勵“國內外各個年齡段和各階層的人群形成閱讀文化、傳播閱讀價值”的活動。

這一設想是西班牙于2001年提出的，馬德里是首個獲得“世界圖書之都”稱號的城市，接下來被選中的是亞歷山大市和新德里市。每年聯合國教科文組織總干事都會和咨詢委員會協商，然后選出一個城市作為“世界圖書之都”。咨詢委員會是由代表作家、圖書館和出版商的國際機構的代表組成。

Word Bank

pay homage to 向……表達敬意

designation /'dez?ɡ'ne??n/ n. 選定；指定；委任

The district is under consideration for designation as a conservation area.