“All those books—another world—just waiting / At my fingertips,” says the speaker at the end of Nikki Giovanni’s “My First Memory (of Librarians),” reminiscing about a youth joyfully spent at a haven for books and book-lovers alike. It’s with this same sense of precious nostalgia that Edward Hirsch’s speaker remembers his days in the library as a young boy in his poem “Branch Library.”

This week, for National Library Week, we celebrate libraries as centers where anyone can access resources for their own work or leisure, whatever their career or lifestyle. In particular, today, for National Library Workers Day, we recognize library staff, workers, administrators, and groups that allow libraries to provide these necessary resources to their respective communities.

This week, take some time to visit your local library to find “Angels and gods huddled / In dark unopened books” as Charles Simic’s speaker does in “In the Library”—or perhaps foreign cities, distant landscapes, whole other worlds, or perhaps just the perfect poem you need for this year's National Poetry Month celebration. Take a look at a selection of poems about reading, and, if you’re a librarian, check out these tips for bringing more poetry into your library during April and throughout the year.

browse poems about reading

read tips for librarians

browse books to add to your reading list