Friday, December 30, 2016

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)

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
3/15 – The Ides of March (Julius Caesar is stabbed, 44 B.C.)
4/2 – International Children’s Book Day (Hans Christian Anderson’s Birthday)
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
4/23 – Shakespeare’s birthday
4/23 – World Book Day
4/27 – National Tell a Story Day

May

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)

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)
11/18 – 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

4 comments:

  1. 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 :)

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  2. Is this list perennial? Or is a 2018 update needed? Great list. Thanks!

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