IFLA is happy to congratulate Rio de Janeiro on being awarded the title of World Book Capital City 2025, following a decision of the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay. We look forward to working with Brazilian colleagues in order to ensure this highlights and strengthens libraries.

UNESCO’s World Book Capital City initiative offers a great way to highlight the power of books and reading to support sustainable development at the local level. For almost a quarter of a century now, cities and towns from around the world have takes on the title, showcasing their work to promote creativity, ensure access, and make a lasting difference to their citizens’ lives.

The 25th holder of the title, as announced in a press release on Friday from UNESCO, will be Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It will take up the title from Strasbourg, France in April 2025, which in turn will follow on from Accra, Ghana.

Rio’s bid underlined a strong focus on using books and libraries to promote inclusion, with a particular focus on young people and making the most of technology. It sets out indicators of success in terms of the degree to which activities have led to positive social change.

Combining active public libraries with major heritage collections and research centres, Rio offers a wide range of library collections and expertise, and is well placed to provide a model for future title holders.

IFLA warmly welcomes this decision, and looks forwards to working with our dynamic Brazilian colleagues to make the most of the year to bring lasting benefits to libraries and their users.