Milan will receive the title of "City of the Book and of Reading 2015" to coincide with the Expo 2015 world's fair, the northern city's alderman for cultural heritage said Friday.

"The coinciding timing with Expo symbolises the importance of the promotion of reading," said Filippo Del Corno, who made the announcement together with the president of BookCity, Piergaetano Marchetti.

The initiative features a string of appointments from March to October 2015 including the City of the Book meeting in March, the national project for the promotion of reading in April, 'Bibliopride' in May, 'Read at Night' in June, the exhibit 'Milan, a place to read' in Septmeber, and the launch of 'Let's Read Ourselves in Schools' in October.

The events climax with a special international edition of BookCity during the last week of Expo (October 22-25).