Literary Holidays to Celebrate All Year Long

It's almost the new year, and you know what that means - planning for next year! I love planning almost as much as I love celebrating, so I've gone ahead and compiled a list of holidays to celebrate all year long, so I can get my 2017 calendar in order. If you have more literature-based or library-friendly holidays, please let me know and I will add them!

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.)

3/16 – Freedom of Information Day

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

4/11 – National Library Workers’ 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

4/30 – Children’s Book Day/El Dia de los Ninos

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)

5/20 – Eliza Doolittle Day
5/21 – National Readathon Day

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

9/8 – International Literacy 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

November 

Picture Book Month, National Family Literacy Month, National Novel Writing Month

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