WINONA, Minn. — As a part of “World Book Night U.S.” on April 23, Nancy Wiltgen, a 1975 alumna and senior development director at Saint Mary’s University, gave 20 copies of “Playing for Pizza” by John Grisham to students at SMU’s De La Salle Language Institute and to other members of the SMU community. Wiltgen was just one of 25,000 “book givers” who gave away a half a million free books across America on April 23. Wiltgen, who also participated in the first World Book Night in 2012, was inspired to get involved in this program after working with an international student in 2011. The student told Wiltgen that she was interested in reading a good book in English that was not a textbook. John Grisham is one of Wiltgen’s favorite authors. For more information, go to
www.us.worldbooknight.org.
Each year, 30 books are chosen by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers. The authors of the books waive their royalties, and the publishers agree to pay the costs of producing the specially printed World Book Night U.S. editions. The Book Shelf, an independent bookstore in Winona, signed up to be the community host location for the local volunteer book givers.
