Ballakermeen High School Librarian, Ros Alcock handed out books to students on World Book Night, the nationwide celebration of the reading, recommending and giving of books.

Now in its second year, World Book Night 2012 took place on the 23rd April, UNESCO’s International Day of the Book and Shakespeare’s birthday. World Book Night is an industry-wide initiative launched in 2011 and will see one million free books given away by passionate readers to other members of the public across the UK, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Members of the public were invited to apply to be one of the 20,000 book-givers and those selected are passionate readers who enjoy recommending a book they love to other readers. They are also encouraged to pass the books on to those who may be reluctant readers or who are part of communities with less access to books, bookshops and libraries.

In total, 480,000 books will be distributed by givers. The remaining 520,000 will be distributed directly to prisons, libraries, hospitals and other places where books are not readily available, through World Book Night’s charitable partners.

Ballakermeen’s librarian Ros Alcock gave copies of Meg Rosoff’s book ‘How  I live now’ to Ballakermeen students. ‘This is a great read,’ she said. ‘It has excitement, adventure, a bit of romance - a really good book. I hope our students enjoy it and will want to pass on to others.’