The Night with Mr. Andersen

Abstract

Night with Andersen (http://www.nocsandersenem.cz/english.html) is a night full of adventure for children who can sleep over in libraries. It started in 2000 in Uherske Hradiste, a town in the Czech Republic, and has quickly spread nationwide and even abroad. It celebrates International Children's Book Day which is also Hans Christian Andersen's anniversary. The event is organized by the Club of Children's Libraries, a division of the Association of Library and Information Professionals of the Czech Republic. Each year a different major theme for the Night is selected. The Night itself comprises of book readings, theatrical performances, planting fairy tale trees and countless other activities. In 2013 it received Hans Christian Andersen's Award. In 2019, the Night took place in 1,775 places in 21 countries and was attended by 98,853 children. It is up to individual participating libraries to decide how to implement the theme and which particular activities to include. Basically all libraries focus on readings and related activities, helping make SDG 4 (Quality Education) a reality. A number of libraries organize their event in collaboration with other partners such as schools, museums or local businesses. Such partnership networks can then be activated for other purposes, for example to help deliver SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). Also, in a significant number of libraries fairy tale trees are planted during the Night, making a small but not entirely insignificant contribution to SDG 13 (Climate Action).