National Book Day is celebrated on October 29 and celebrates the importance of reading and, consequently, books in the lives of human beings.
The books have the function of transmitting knowledge, enriching people culturally, having fun, relaxing and, besides, other things, being a good company.
Origin of National Book Day
The creation of the National Day of the Book refers to the founding date of the National Library of Rio de Janeiro. It was founded on October 29, 1810 by the Portuguese Crown.
At the time, a large collection of the Real Biblioteca Portuguesa was brought to the site. The first book published in Brazil was the work of Tomás Antônio Gonzaga Marília de Dirceu , in 1808.
Today, the National Library of Rio de Janeiro is the largest in Latin America and is among the ten largest in the world.
Activities for National Book Day
Several libraries, bookstores and schools hold events to celebrate that day. In schools, we can highlight:
- students reading books;
- theatrical performances;
- visits to the municipal libraries.
The important thing is to awaken in students the pleasure of reading and also to reinforce the importance of the book as a diffuser of knowledge. It is interesting that the teacher talks about the origin and history of the book.
Libraries and bookstores usually hold events with some writers and dramatic presentations of some works of national and world literature.
Many bookstores offer discounts on that day in order to disseminate and encourage the practice of reading.
History of the book
The book, as we know it today, has undergone several transformations.
Since the appearance of the alphabet, ancient people have written on stones or on clay plates. The technique was innovated and papyri appeared around 3000 years before Christ, in Ancient Egypt.
After the papyrus came the parchments, which had more resistance, which facilitated access to the texts.
In the Middle Ages, copyist monks were people destined to copy the works, generally of a religious character.
It is worth noting that, at that time, few people had access to books and knowledge. Only men of the Church or nobles could access these goods, considered by many to be objects of salvation.
In the 15th century, the German inventor and graphic Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468) revolutionized the history of the book.
By introducing the mobile press technique, which was previously discovered in China, Gutemberg allowed the reproduction of copies and the popularization of the book.
It is clear to realize that civilizations have always had the intention of keeping knowledge and passing it on from generation to generation.
Thus, from the 20th century onwards, we saw other supports for books such as audiobooks, e-books, etc.
Other dates that celebrate the books
The National Children ‘s Book Day is celebrated in Brazil on a specific date, on April 18 , because on this day the children’s story writer Monteiro Lobato was born.
The World Book Day and Copyright is celebrated on April 23 . The date was established by Unesco in 1995, and recalls the date of the death of three great writers: Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.