[2] The nominating committee accepts programmes presented by or endorsed by the mayor of the city making the application that promote and foster reading.

If the work doesn't meet the panel's expectations, the Advisory Committee may withdraw the title from the city at any time during the monitoring phase, with one month's notice.

The city authorities also agree to support the administrative work of the World Book Capital Secretariat by gathering financial contributions from potential donors or participating in the development of fundraising strategies.

The existing Spanish Bookfair LIBER used Madrid's World Book Capital status as its theme for the year.

It launched a programme to promote publishing linked to all professional associations and political and social actors concerned with books, including government services.

The chosen theme ABC 2004, evolved to XYZ 2005 in the second part of its programme where four exhibitions were devoted to the written heritage of the city.

[28] With a budget of 1.7 million euros, several literary projects took place throughout the year including word festivals, theatre street performances, public readings, celebrations of authors, letter-writing contests by mobile phone, publishing of books in collaboration with artists, exhibitions as well as free distribution of blank notebooks to encourage writing.

In the main hall of DeSingel, Antwerp's international art and cultural centre, a metal cube was installed which housed a library.

The main objectives of MWBC 2005 were to increase reading habits especially among young people, encourage creative writing, stimulate the book industry and strengthen Montreal's position as an international cultural city.

[30] The activities were developed under the themes of books and reading, creativity, education and learning, remembrance and heritage, culture, celebration, and festivals.

Authors including Marie Laberge, Réjean Ducharme, Yann Martel, Mordecai Richler, Michel Tremblay had their books highlighted during the year.

Throughout that day various personalities and artists including writers, poets, musicians, and people from the film industry performed in the city centre with approximately 4,000 spectators attending the event.

Various other initiatives were implemented on several fronts: the creation of the Consejo Distrital de Fomento de la Lectura (District Council for the Promotion of Reading), responsible for setting reading and writing policies in the city, the improvement of education with the development of a modem public library system, the cooperation with a variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, and the launching of programmes to popularise literature, such as Libro al Viento ("Book in thé Wind").

In addition to the central theme, the programme carried out events towards the Municipal Council's three objectives:[36] The first Amsterdam "Book of the Night" was created on March 20.

A total number of 298 activities were realised during this period with the aid of public networks and other institutions with 490,000 people taking part.

A series of activities were planned, from literary cafés to specialised fairs, international symposiums and conferences, writing workshops to all kinds of forums with a focus on Lebanese writers.

[41] Theme: Eternity of the word The World Book Capital 2012 in Yerevan, Armenia concurred with the country's 500th anniversary of "Armenian printing" as it was also celebrated in 2012.

[42][43] The schedule of the Yerevan World Book Capital 2012 programme emphasised "the role of children and young adults in building knowledgeable societies".

Activities were run with departments in Bangkok, including those of education, healthcare, environment, social development, traffic control and 50 others.

[25] Theme: Books: Windows to Our World of Possibilities Port Harcourt is the first city in Sub-Saharan Africa to win the title.

Educating and cultivating citizens aimed at empowering them to protect democracy, promote social justice, and contribute to the development of their communities.

Other activities were: "Library Support Programme", a voluntary training by other adults and donations to modern school libraries which were recently created, "Books on the Radio", "Television Show: Game Show-" Know your World", " Monthly Drama performances", "The walking Book", "Ken Saro-Wiwa ‘Writer-Martyr Memorial Square’", "Introduction of a writers’ residency program", "Possibilities for Nigeria-Essay Contest as Nigeria turns 100", "Integration into existing state events", etc.

Excerpts from his works were read and interpreted in places all around the city by renown Polish actors, like: Ewa Skibińska, Magdalena Cielecka, Jan Nowicki, Arkadiusz Jakubik and Bartosz Porczyk.

[52][53] Higher literacy and stronger reading culture in schools, libraries, institutions and among the general public, were all primary priorities of the programme.

[54] The programme was based on 8 thematics: Each of these eight objectives was aligned with the main goal of the project to make books and culture accessible to everyone, residents or visitors, across all neighbourhoods of Athens.

Some of the programme initiatives were: moving and pop-up libraries, Bibliobuses- books on wheels, cultural performances and talks by esteemed authors from around the world, poetry readings, installations, festivals, exhibitions and many more.

This new library and cultural centre combined traditional and digital resources of knowledge, information, interactive learning and contemporary pedagogy.

It extends over 12,000 square metres and includes two floors of libraries with more than 105,000 books, discussion halls, indoors and outdoors reading areas, as well as an education space designed for children.

[55] Theme: KL Baca: Caring through Reading The World Book Capital 2020 was held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

[56] The activities were organised around 5 streams:[56] The overall themes of the initiatives of Kuala Lumpur World Book Capital 2020, besides Caring through Reading, were focused on Diversity and Environmental Rejuvenation.