National Library week was first sponsored in 1958, now it’s observed by a number of countries. Sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries across the world, we want to highlight all the ways you can support your library this week!
During National Library Week, April 6 – April 12, 2025, the ALA shares some ways you can discover (or rediscover) your library:
- Visit your library and bring friends or family along.
- Encourage a friend to get a library card—it’s a simple act that opens up a world of opportunity.
- Browse the shelves, join a book club, or attend a storytime. Sketch out your next creative project in a makerspace, hear from an inspiring author, or find expert help with research, job hunting, or tracing your family roots. Libraries connect us to ideas, information, and each other—and they’re built for everyone.
Learn more by checking out the ALA – National Library Week page.
To celebrate, check out some of these fun titles related to libraries!
Here come the library babies, ready to give you a tour of their favorite local library! Includes activities and educational reading tips to help parents enjoy the book with their children.
No Cats in Libraries by Lauren Emmons
“Clarisse is a clever cat who loves books. She may not understand the dark, squiggly lines, but she can’t get enough of the pictures. One day, she stumbles upon a magical building where people walk in empty-handed and come out with an armload of books. She has to find a way inside!”–From http://www.Amazon.com.
The Night Librarian by Christopher Lincoln
“Twins Page and Turner know about the magic a library holds–they’ve been going to their beloved New York City public library for years, especially since their parents are always traveling for work. But a secret mission involving their dad’s rare and valuable edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula uncovers a world they’ve never known, featuring a mysterious Night Librarian, famous heroes (and villains) that have broken free from classic books, and an epic battle to save the library from total destruction”– Amazon.com.
“Essie has grown up in the public library, raised in secret by the four librarians who found her abandoned as a baby in the children’s department. With four mothers and miles of books to read, Essie has always been very happy living there. But now that she is eleven, Essie longs for a little more freedom… and maybe a friend her own age. She seems to get her wish when her moms let her go by herself to the mall. On her second trip there, she meets G.E., a mysterious boy who looks so much like her she can’t help but think they may be twins. Maybe he was raised by four dads in the appliance section of the department store. Maybe his story is intertwined with hers, and their happy ending is as one big family. But as she gets to know him better, she learns that nothing is as simple as it seems in her stories—not even her own past.”–Book jacket flap.
“Thirteen-year-old Juan’s summer is off to a terrible start. First, his parents separate. Then, almost as bad, Juan is sent away to his strange Uncle Tito’s house for the entire break! Who wants to live with an oddball recluse who has zigzag eyebrows, drinks fifteen cups of smoky tea a day, and lives inside a huge, mysterious library? As Juan adjusts to his new life among teetering, dusty shelves, he notices something odd: the books move on their own! He rushes to tell Uncle Tito, who lets his nephew in on a secret: Juan is a Princeps Reader, which means books respond magically to him, and he’s the only one who can find the elusive, never-before-read Wild Book. But will Juan and his new friend Catalina get to the Wild Book before the wicked, story-stealing Pirate Book does?”–Page [4] of cover.
Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights
“A multi-genre, young adult anthology that spotlights the transformative power of books while equipping teens to fight for the freedom to read, featuring the voices of 15 diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators”– Provided by publisher.
The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper
“Tildy Barrows, Head Curator of a beautiful archival library in San Francisco, is meticulously dedicated to the century’s worth of inventory housed in her beloved Beaux Art building. She loves the calm and order in the shelves of books and walls of art. But Tildy’s uneventful life takes an unexpected turn when she, first, learns the library is on the verge of bankruptcy and, second, discovers two exquisite never-before-seen dollhouses. After finding clues hidden within these remarkable miniatures, Tildy starts to believe that Belva Curtis LeFarge, the influential heiress who established the library a century ago, is conveying a significant final message. With a newfound sense of spontaneity, Tildy sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses, aiming to salvage her cherished library in the process. Spanning the course of a century, The Library of Lost Dollhouses is a warm, bright, and captivating story of secrets and love that embraces the importance of illuminating overlooked women of the past”– Provided by publisher.
The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes
“When Works Progress Administration (WPA) editor Millie Lang finds herself on the wrong end of a potential political scandal, she’s shipped off to Montana to work on the state’s American Guide Series–travel books intended to put the nation’s destitute writers to work. Millie arrives to an eclectic staff claiming their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state’s powerful Copper Kings who don’t want their long and bloody history with union organizers aired for the rest of the country to read. But Millie begins to suspect that the answer might instead lie with the town’s mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe. More than a decade earlier, Alice Monroe created the Boxcar Library in order to deliver books to isolated mining towns where men longed for entertainment and connection. Alice thought she found the perfect librarian to staff the train car in Colette Durand, a miner’s daughter with a shotgun and too many secrets behind her eyes. Now, no one in Missoula will tell Millie why both Alice and Colette went out on the inaugural journey of the Boxcar Library, but only Alice returned. The three women’s stories dramatically converge in the search to uncover what someone is so desperately trying to hide: what happened to Colette Durand”– Provided by publisher.