National Book Tokens is a currency-backed voucher scheme, and successor to the book token programme, that is available in the UK and Ireland. They are solely owned and issued by Book Tokens Ltd (part of the Booksellers Association Group of Companies). National Book Tokens are sold and accepted for exchange in almost all UK bookshops, including all major chains. The NBT scheme also sponsors the UK and Irish

World Book Day World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and co ...

, as well as other literary events and awards such as ''The Telegraph'' Book Club Tour, Global Reads and the

Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards The Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards are annual literary awards presented by the Booksellers Association in the UK and Ireland since 2016. They are sponsored by National Book Tokens. History and administration The awards were launched at the 2016 ...

. The Book Tokens scheme was established in 1932, by publisher Harry Raymond. The original format of the tokens was as "lick-and-stick" stamp-like vouchers, which were glued into gift cards and had to be removed by the bookseller redeeming the token. In the 1990s, this design was changed to a "currency-style" voucher, available in a number of different denominations. After a redesign in 2003 the Book Tokens scheme was relaunched as National Book Tokens, with new vouchers designed by LMC Design. In 2010, the paper vouchers were phased out. They were replaced by National Book Token

gift cards A gift card also known as gift certificate in North America, or gift voucher or gift token in the UK is a prepaid stored-value money card, usually issued by a retailer or bank, to be used as an alternative to cash for purchases within a parti ...

which were identified by a

bar code A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official UK website
Bookselling