NZ Book Month in Christchurch extends to 31st May, 2011

NZ Book Month is pleased to let you know that delivery of the $5 book vouchers put on hold to Christchurch is now underway.

And in response to requests from Christchurch families, teachers, librarians and booksellers, residents will be able to take advantage of the voucher for an extended period of time.

Every child in school received a voucher via their principal on Monday 14 March. Two further vouchers will be delivered to 105,000 homes this weekend – Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 March.  In addition vouchers will be available at Caltex and BNZ stores.

Eighteen out of the 28 local booksellers that had confirmed their support of the $5 book voucher are now open, with the remaining 10 closed until further notice. Please see full list of participating booksellers at the end of this story.  

Thanks to the support of Booksellers New Zealand and over 130 participating publishers, these stores will be able to redeem vouchers up to and including 31st May,
regardless of the date shown on the voucher.

Delia Arnold, Librarian at Christchurch Boys’ High School says, “It is a lovely gesture for NZ Book Month, a nice gift for the students and, in the case of Christchurch, hopefully a pleasant surprise for our remaining booksellers.”

National Coordinator Beth Davies, a Christchurch resident herself, adds:
“We are overwhelmed by the on-going support to forge ahead with New Zealand Book Month, and by the events that are still taking place around the city. We’ve had fifteen events confirmed to go ahead over the next two weeks. Despite so many obstacles, the team at Christchurch City Libraries are still hosting eleven of those.

“Clare Newton (our Christchurch Libraries activist) is delighted with the extension of the voucher campaign and the added opportunity to help distribute vouchers. She highlighted that it would be great to give them to staff as well as customers. The three open libraries have just loved having the NZ Book Month events, as it has been great to offer kids something “normal” to do. Five more libraries will open next week.”

With many libraries still closed, children’s librarian Zac Harding highlights that the local Kids Blog is a great place to go: “Some of our best authors, including Adele Broadbent, Bill Nagelkerke and Des Hunt are blogging their favourite children’s books. Any Christchurch child aged 8-12 years who comments during NZ Book Month will go in the draw to win a bundle of New Zealand books.”

Unfortunately New Zealand Book Month is not able to provide any revised point of sale materials for participating stores. We would ask that participating stores affix a note to their point of sale materials to say “Vouchers can be redeemed up until 31st May here”.

A small stock of the original double-sided A2 posters is available on a first-come, first-served basis for stores that have lost /damaged materials. Contact Nikki Crowther to discuss.

Christchurch events for NZ Book Month
For full details of confirmed Christchurch events for New Zealand Book Month
please visit the NZ Book Month website.

PARTICIPATING CHRISTCHURCH BOOKSELLERS
 

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