Friday Nov 22, 2024
Friday Nov 22, 2024
Friday, 28 February 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The British Council Library, Colombo will celebrate World Book Day this year with a series of activities which will commence on 29 February with a British book fair by the British Council’s partner booksellers – Chapters, Sarasavi Bookshop and Vijitha Yapa Bookshop - and an exclusive exhibition entitled ‘Drawing Words’.
The events over the coming days will be open to all of British Council’s library members as well as to the public and will provide an opportunity to explore the joy of books, art and reading.
On 29 February, the celebrations will commence with the opening of the ‘Drawing Words’ exhibition in the Library at 9.30 a.m. by British Council Sri Lanka Country Director Gill Caldicott.
‘Drawing Words’ is a new exhibition of the UK children’s book illustration commissioned by the British Council and curated by the Waterstones UK Children’s Laureate, Lauren Child.
The exhibition will remain open until 15 March. The opening on Saturday will be followed by a workshop for children between five and eight years of age conducted by Jill Calder, an interactive drawing event from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. and a storytelling session for children of the same age group from 3.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Simultaneously, the British Council Library will host the British book fair on the lawn, and the booksellers will offer a generous 20% discount to British Council Library members, and a 10% discount to non-members, on all the books on sale. Events on the day will include storytelling for children aged from five to 12, Draw-the-word for teams of teenagers from 3.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. and Words in the Grass for teams of any ages from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.
On 1 March, the Library team will reprise the same activities on the lawn. In the Library, Jill Calder will conduct a workshop for nine- to 12-year-old children from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. on Sunday, and on 2 March to conduct an exclusive presentation and masterclass for art students and children’s book illustration enthusiasts, from 6.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. On both Saturday and Sunday, the Yamaha Music Centre will provide an opportunity for budding musicians to perform, and Artra Magazine will offer a 20% discount on subscriptions as well as back copies for sale.
World Book Day is an event held annually in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the first Thursday in March, and in keeping with the spirit of the celebration the British Council Library’s Colombo, Kandy and Orion City branches will offer a 10% discount on all memberships (except IELTS and Organizational memberships) from 29 February to 5 March 2020. The British Council Colombo hopes to make this book fair an annual event to promote the love of storytelling, working with words and reading.
