Rochdale celebrates world book night

The World Book Night at Rochdale train station

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Commuters passing through Rochdale station on Tuesday evening were surprised with a gift of words from Rochdale Borough Libraries who had been chosen as World Book Night ‘givers’.

Titles this year included Damage by Josephine Hart, The Road Home by Rose Tremain, Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Little Face by Sophie Hannah, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson, The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry and The No1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. 

Zainib Ahmed, Northern Rail’s Community Ambassador for Rochdale comments: “It was fantastic to see so many of our passengers engaging with the World Book Night ethos. Our conductor on the 18.36 from Rochdale to Sowerby Bridge made sure everyone was aware what was happening and it was great to see passengers getting stuck into their books as soon as they could.”

Joanne Eaves, Stock and Reader Development Manager at Rochdale Borough Libraries comments: “We had a great response from the passengers we spoke to, many of whom were keen to hear more about World Book Night and thrilled to receive a brand new book of their own.

"One of the principal aims of World Book Night is to reach people who perhaps don’t normally read and encourage them to discover or re-visit the joy of escaping into a brilliant book. Hopefully we will have helped some of Northern’s passengers towards this.”

Peter Williams, cabinet member for economic development and customer services added: “Research suggests that over four million adults never read books for pleasure. This is really sad.

"Reading while travelling can make your daily commuter journey so much more relaxing and pleasurable.

"Hopefully, we will have inspired more people to pick up a paperback.”