Sherlock Holmes, Begbie, Dennis the Menace and Harry Potter are among 50 characters battling it out to be named Scotland's favourite literary character as part of a celebration of books and libraries.

Book Week Scotland is looking for the nation's favourite literary character as part of this year's celebrations.

The programme which runs from November 24 to 30, also features hundreds of free events across the country, a giveaway of free books and the unveiling of five large art installations.

The event has the work of libraries as its focus, and readers will also be asked to write a "love letter" to their local library.

Jackie Kay, the leading Scottish poet and writer, has written a five-part poem to a library.

This poem forms the basis for the artworks which will appear in North Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, Edinburgh and the Shetland Islands.

The week of events, organised by Scottish Book Trust, will also unveil the results of the readers' poll on the nation's favourite character from a Scottish book, with a shortlist of 50 characters.

These include Peter Pan, Harry Potter, the Gruffalo, Precious Ramotswe from Alexander McCall Smith's No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Begbie from Trainspotting and Hit Girl from Mark Millar's Kick Ass, among many others.

Around 150,000 free copies of a short story and poem collection, Scotland's Stories of Home, will be distributed throughout the week via libraries and bookshops.

The events are funded by £250,000 from Creative Scotland.