Please note that, while many of these holidays are officially sponsored by (and you can purchase posters and such from) the American Library Association, many of them are made up just for fun, and there is no official, cohesive, governing body. As such, you can celebrate them however you like. I have linked to official sources where I was able.
January
National Braille Literacy Month (Louis Braille was born 1/4/1809)
1/18 – Winnie the Pooh Day (A.A.Milne’s Birthday)
1/19 – Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday
1/29 – “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
is first published
February
Love Your Library Month
2/4 – Take Your Child to the LibraryDay (first Saturday of February)
2/14 – Library Lovers’ Day
March
First full week – Return of Borrowed
Books Week
3/2 - Read Across America (Dr.
Seuss’s Birthday)
3/4 – National Grammar Day
3/5-11 (First full week of March) –
Read an eBook Week
3/5-11 Teen Tech Week
3/15 – The Ides of March (Julius
Caesar is stabbed, 44 B.C.)
April
National Poetry Month
4/2 – International Children’s Book Day (Hans
Christian Anderson’s Birthday)
4/9-15 – National Library Week
4/13 (Thursday of National Library
Week) – Celebrate Teen Literature Day
4/12 – D.E.A.R. Day (Beverly Cleary’s
birthday)
4/18 – National Columnists Day (in
memory of well-known columnist and 1944 Pulitzer Prize winner Ernie Pyle, who
died in WWII)
4/21 – Poem in Your Pocket Day
4/22-29 Money Smart Week
4/23 – Shakespeare’s birthday
4/23 – World Book Day
4/27 – National Tell a Story Day
May
5/1-7 Children’s Book Week
5/2 - Harry Potter Day (May 2 was the day of the Battle of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series; many also celebrate July 31, which is both Harry's and J.K. Rowling's birthdays)
5/4 – Intergalactic Star Wars Day ("May the Fourth be with you.")
5/6 – Free Comic Book Day (first
Saturday in May)
5/9 – Peter Pan Day (James M.
Barrie’s birthday)
5/25 – Towel Day (Hitchhiker’s Guide to
the Galaxy Day)
June
LGBTBook Month, Audiobook Appreciation Month
6/12 – Anne Frank’s birthday (on
which she received her diary)
6/19 – National Garfield the Cat Day
(strip is first published, 1978)
July
Read an Almanac Month
7/16-21 (third week of July) – Hemingway Days takes place in the Florida Keys
7/30 – National Paperback Book Day
7/31 – Harry Potter Day (July 31is both Harry's and J.K. Rowling's; many also celebrate May 2, which was the day of the Battle of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series)
August
8/9 – Book Lovers’ Day
September
Library Card Sign-Up Month, Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month
9/6 – Read a Book Day
9/22 – Hobbit Day
9/22 – Dear Diary Day
Last week of Sept. – Banned BooksWeek
Wednesday of Banned Books Week –
Banned Websites Awareness Day
October
National Book Month (no longer sponsored by the National Book Foundation, but we can celebrate anyway)
10/6 – Mad Hatter Day (because his hat says 10/6)
10/9-15 (week of Columbus Day) – Teen Read Week
10/16 – Dictionary Day (Noah
Webster’s Birthday)
10/16-22 Friends of Libraries Week
11/1 – National Family Literacy Day
11/6 – National Non-Fiction Day (it's "national" in England; let's spread it internationally!)
11/14 – Astrid Lindgren’s birthday
(author of Pippi Longstocking)
11/15 – I Love to Write Day
11/18 – High-Five a Librarian Day
Third Saturday of November –
International Games Day
December
Read a New Book Month
12/1 – Sherlock Holmes Day (“A Study
in Scarlet” was said to have been first published 12/1/1887 - this is actually in dispute, but we can still celebrate)
12/16 – Jane Austen’s birthday
thank you!!!! I've tried to assemble a list and after missing Dr. Seuss's birthday this past week I knew I had to re-start the search. I truly appreciate your work :)
ReplyDeleteIs this list perennial? Or is a 2018 update needed? Great list. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteA 2018 list is coming soon. :)
DeleteJune is Audiobook month! #LoveAudiobooks
ReplyDelete