The City of Annapolis and the Rotary Club of Annapolis will honor World Book Day at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 22 at the Stanton Center, 92 W. Washington St., Annapolis. At the celebration, Mayor Gavin Buckley will read to children to mark the occasion.

World Book Day is celebrated annually on April 23. More than one hundred countries honor World Book Day. It began in 1995, when the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chose April 23, the day William Shakespeare died in 1616, as World Book Day to celebrate the power of words and the joy of reading.