World Book and Copyright Day 2025: Books are the oldest source of knowledge for humanity. Today, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, people globally mark World Book and Copyright Day, which is observed every year to honour books and reading. The United Nations chose April 23 to commemorate the death anniversaries of literary greats William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. The objective of UNESCO's celebration of this day is to encourage people all across the world, particularly children, to develop a habit of reading books, especially in modern times, since many people have abandoned reading books due to information overload from other digital sources. “Storytelling is an incredibly effective tool when it comes to educating younger generations”. “Indeed, books are vital vehicles to access, transmit and promote education, science, culture, and information worldwide,” UNESCO notes. For this occasion, UNESCO chooses the World Book Capital every year, and in 2025, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been designated as the World Book Capital. The city is going to demonstrate how books promote social transformation, including literacy, education, and poverty eradication, while also providing long-term economic rewards. On the occasion, Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, highlighted the importance of books, stating, "Books, in all their forms, allow us to learn and to keep ourselves informed. They also entertain us and help us to understand the world. For books to be able to unleash their full potential, it is essential that they reflect the linguistic diversity of our world. However, this is far from being the case today; the majority of works are published in just a handful of languages." On this day, the globe also marks World Copyright Day, which aims to highlight the right to exchange ideas while protecting and crediting them as well. In 1952, UNESCO adopted the Universal Copyright Convention, introducing the © mark as a global guarantee for intellectual and creative work. View this post on Instagram A post shared by UNESCO (@unesco)
