World Book Day on 23 April

Every year on 23 April, libraries, bookshops and other institutions celebrate World Book Day. Originally, the date goes back to "St George's Day". In Catalonia, roses and books were given as gifts on the name day of the popular saint St George. The anniversaries of the deaths of William Shakespeare and Miquel de Cervantes also fall on this date. In 1995, UNESCO declared the day a global holiday for READING and BOOKS.

But how does a closed city library celebrate in times of coronavirus crisis, when the Saxon Coronavirus Protection Ordinance continues to prohibit the operation of libraries (except specialised libraries) and reading-hungry visitors are therefore currently unable to access the more than 250,000 current media? But especially now, when everything is so different, constants are important. And that's exactly why Chemnitz City Library is celebrating World Book Day with all its visitors, customers and followers. More precisely, virtually on Facebook and Instagram. So if visitors don't come to the library at the moment, the library will come to them.

From Thursday, 23 April 2020, library users will once again be able to browse a large selection of online

digital media - borrowing is still free of charge,
media tips on new titles that are waiting for readers in the library for the reopening,
"Pick a poem" - poems from the Chemnitz Authors' Association,
Tips on using the online services Brockhaus Schülertraining, the Onleihe, the streaming service "filmfriend" and the Genios database.

City Library 2019:
Chemnitz City Library counted 538,071 visitors last year. That's around 2,000 visitors per opening day. Compared to the previous year, this is an increase in visitors of 2.6 per cent. Contrary to the trend in many other libraries, lending figures were around three per cent higher. A total of 1,483,831 items were borrowed. This shows that the wide range of services on offer are well utilised and that Chemnitz residents continue to enjoy reading. A total of 263 volunteer reading sessions and 640 media education events took place.