Events around the world garnered more than 17,200 book donations and brought more than 7,400 participants together to share a love of reading, globally
UK event donated books to National Literacy Trust, Magic Breakfast and Beanstalk

LONDON – April 27, 2017 – (NASDAQ:AMZN) – In honour of World Book Day - a day dedicated to authors, illustrators and readers across the globe, celebrated annually on April 23 - Amazon hosted a Global Free Library event series, where communities around the world were invited to celebrate their love of reading and books. Global Free Library events were held in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Across twelve countries, Amazon employees, local community members and book publishers donated more than 17,200 books to bring the Global Free Library event series to life. In the spirit of World Book Day, readers that attended were encouraged to leave a book they love and want to share, and to discover and select a new book (or ebook) to bring home and read. At the end of each event, remaining books were donated to local charities. The global events brought together more than 7,400 participants to celebrate reading and included activities ranging from photo booths and book-inspired latte art to personalised tote bags with inspirational quotes and more than 25 author and storyteller readings.

In the UK, Amazon employees and customers took part in Celebrate Reading, a book donation drive where inspirational titles were given to the National Literacy Trust, Magic Breakfast and Beanstalk. Across the week-long initiative books were generously donated with the hope each book would inspire others to love reading as much as the person who donated.

“Books possess the power to inspire and many people can often point to a single book that compelled them to fall in love with reading. I know for me it was The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery,” said Dan Mucha, Director of Books at Amazon UK. “Here at Amazon we strongly believe everyone should have easy access to life changing books – whether it’s reading for pleasure or for further advancing knowledge. Whatever their reason, this initiative is designed to give everyone a chance to love reading, become inspired and make literature part of their lives.”

“We were delighted to receive such an array of wonderful books, generously donated by Amazon UK employees and customers,” said Lisa Rootes, Head of Partnerships at the National Literacy Trust. “The National Literacy Trust is dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK by helping children from disadvantaged communities gain the literacy skills they need to succeed in life. We hope that every child who receives one of these inspiring books will develop a love of reading that will last a lifetime.”

“Books are home to us at Amazon. Our company started with books and they remain core to what we do,” said Robin Mendelson, Director of Books & Media, Amazon. “The power of reading and the power that books have to transform lives and shape communities is as strong as ever. Around the world, readers visited our Global Free Library events and took part in reading, sharing and discovering new books. We were so appreciative to receive the support of publishers, customers and our own employees to give back to local communities and institutions that are vital to the promotion of literacy and literature. Amazon employees had such a great time joining families and our local communities around the world who took time out of their days to share in the love of reading.”

Highlights from the Global Free Library event series can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoWn8_S-hvQ&feature=youtu.be

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Amazon
Tom Parker
Corporate Communications Manager – UK & Ireland
T: + 44 203 680 2931
M: +44 7773 332 458
E: tompar@amazon.co.uk