World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated on April 23, at the initiative of UNESCO. On this day, UNESCO aims to promote the right and freedom of reading, encourage and stimulate reading, attract young people to cultural institutions, to the library, to books and reading.

23 April is a symbolic date in world literature. This day marks the death, in 1616, of three great writers of the world: a British one, William Shakespeare, a Spanish one, Miguel de Cervantes, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, a Peruvian writer of Spanish origin. The General Council of UNESCO decided to decree, in 1995, the World Book and Copyright Day, to symbolically mark the birth and death of these prominent writers and also to encourage reading.

Each year, on 23April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognize the scope of books - a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures, there are also tributes to books, authors, publishers, librarians, librarians, and, implicitly, readers.

On this occasion, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry - publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the World Book Capital for a one-year period, obviously from 23 April. In 2001, Madrid was the first book capital. For 2021, UNESCO awarded the title of “World Book Capital” to the city of Tbilisi.

By championing books and copyright, UNESCO stands for creativity, diversity and equal access to knowledge. With the active involvement of all stakeholders: authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media, and all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors, World Book and Copyright Day has become a platform to rally together millions of people all around the world.

In the Republic of Moldova, on this day is marked the Librarian’s Day, instituted in recognition of the role that librarians have in the knowledge-based society.