you would
venture, always securing permission,
into the back library stacks, without food
or water because you have a mission:
to find yourself, in the regulated light,
holding a volume in your hands
—“Chance,” Molly Peacock
During National Library Week, which begins today and goes through April 15, we celebrate all of our country’s libraries, librarians, and library workers and the important place libraries serve in our society—as places for research or casual reading, as meeting places, as business and community centers, and more.
First created in 1958, National Library Week is sponsored by the American Library Association and includes a week’s worth of celebrations, including National Library Workers Day and National Bookmobile Day, among others.
This year’s National Library Week theme is “Libraries Transform,” and for the first time, the American Library Association (ALA) has designated April 13 as Take Action for Libraries Day as a way to advocate for continued funding for the Institute for Museum and Library Services in response to the recently proposed federal budget cuts.
“We must stand up and voice our support for libraries to legislators and local, state, and federal leaders,” said ALA President Julie Todaro in a recent press release. “Librarians and library workers transform lives every day though educational resources and expert guidance. While many value the contributions of libraries, libraries can’t live on love alone. The loss of crucial federal funding will have a profound impact on library service and the more than 1. 5 billion who rely on them.”
Find out more about National Library Week, check out our tips for how you can bring poetry to your library, and read an anthology of poems about libraries below.