SM North EDSA marks World Book Day

SM North EDSA marked World Book Day on April 23 by turning part of its Annex in Quezon City into a public reading and activity space. (tribune.net.ph) The event was led by Book Nook, an SM reading initiative, with storytelling sessions, interactive art and family activities designed for children and adult visitors. (tribune.net.ph) (bilyonaryo.com) Photos published on April 23 showed chef Miguel Cabel Moreno reading “Si Migoy ang Batang Tausug” to children, while other attendees colored tote bags and bookmarks. (tribune.net.ph) (manilatimes.net) The Quezon City program was staged in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the International Board on Books for Young People. Bilyonaryo also reported UNESCO as a partner in the Annex Atrium event. (manilatimes.net) (bilyonaryo.com) World Book and Copyright Day is observed each year on April 23 under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, tying local mall events to a global literacy and copyright campaign. (unesco.org) (awarenessdays.com) At SM North EDSA, the celebration also doubled as a showcase for Filipino stories and authors, with organizers framing books as a community activity rather than a classroom assignment. (tribune.net.ph) That approach fits SM’s larger Book Nook strategy. The company has been opening free, open-access reading spaces where visitors can read on site, donate titles or swap books in high-traffic malls. (bilyonaryo.com) (tribune.net.ph) SM expanded that push in 2025 with a nationwide book donation drive across its malls, and Tribune reported in March that Ateneo de Manila University had donated academic journals to the SM North EDSA Book Nook. (tribune.net.ph 1) (tribune.net.ph 2) For SM North EDSA, the April 23 program put that reading space to work as a live event: children listening to a story, families making art, and a mall floor briefly operating like a neighborhood library. (tribune.net.ph) (manilatimes.net)