Book Night is held on the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April, and Croatian Book Day, 22 April. It is organised by the Association of Publishers and Bookstores of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the National and University Library in Zagreb, the Zagreb City Libraries, the Croatian Publishers' Reprographic Rights Association – ZANA, the Moderna Vremena books and culture website, the Knjižni Blok association, and the Croatian Association of School Librarians.
Recalling the theme of this year's Book Night, freedom, the director of the National and University Library in Zagreb, Ivanka Stričević, said that many today call for freedom in Europe, that many met with her after taking face masks off after two years, and she also mentioned poetic freedom.
The president of the Association of Publishers and Bookstores, Slavko Kozina, said that after two years of the pandemic, they could declare this "a mature book night", an event that has a cultural and sales function, as well as the role of questioning book policies.
It shows that the book can work in different synergies, he added.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Media Krešimir Partl underscored the importance of the event in promoting the culture of reading, which is important for preserving culture and identity, and he especially mentioned a panel dedicated to Ukrainian literature and a campaign for printing Ukrainian notebooks.