Love of Books Celebration Calendar
One of the best things about the bookish community is when we all band together to speak up, protect or celebrate the printed word. While there is plenty need to have very serious conversations about representation in books & publishing, fighting book bans, etc. there should always be time for all of us that love books to celebrate books!
So on this page I hope to chronicle (and continually update) all of the dates, events and commemorations for book lovers. While much of this can be found across the internet, I am also pulling events and nuggets from these fun books:
January
2: National Science Fiction Day
3: JRR Tolkien Day - “The Lord of the Rings” author’s birthday
16: Book Publishers Day - celebrate book publishers worldwide
18: National Thesaurus Day
Fourth Wednesday in January: Library Shelfie Day
February
National Library Lovers Month
First Wednesday in February: World Read Aloud Day
First Saturday of February: Take Your Child to the Library Day
First week of February: Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week
9: National Read In The Bathtub Day
14: International Book Giving Day
14: Library Lovers Day
14: Read to Your Child Day
Second week of February: Freelance Writers Appreciation Week
20: Clean Out Your Bookcase Dayca
March
Gardening, Nature and Ecology Books Month
Small Press Month
First Full Week of March: Read an Ebook Week
First Full Week of March: Return Borrowed Books
Week 1: Read Across America
2: Read Across America Day - birthday of Dr. Seuss
14: National Write Your Story Day
Week 3: World Folktales & Fables Week
20: Bibliomania Day - commemorates the theft of 23,600 books executed by Stephen Blumberg
21: World Poetry Day
25: National Tolkien Reading Day
April
National Poetry Month
1: Edible Book Day
2: Children’s Book Day
4: National School Librarian Day
Second Week of April: National Library Week
Every Wednesday of NLW: National Bookmobile Day
Day 10: Encourage a Young Writer Day
12: D.E.A.R. Drop Everything And Read Day (Runs for the rest of April)
14: National Donate a Book Day
16: National Librarian Day
21: Thank You For Libraries Day
23: National Talk Like Shakespeare Day
23: World Book Day - UNESCO
23: World Book Night
Last Saturday in April: Independent Bookstore Day
28: National Great Poetry Reading Day
May
National Get Caught Reading Month
Free Comic Book Day: First Saturday
National Mystery Month
5: National Cartoonists’ Day
16: National Biographer's Day - commemorates when Samuel Johnson and James Boswell met in 1763 in a London bookshop.
Second Week of May: Reading Is Fun Week
June
Audiobook Appreciation Month
16: Bloomsday - remembering Irish writer James Joyce
July
Read an Almanac Month
30: Paperback Book Day
August
Romance Awareness Month
2: National Coloring Book Day
9: National Book Lovers Day
30: Frankenstein Day
September
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
6: National Read A Book
7: Buy A Book Day
Day 8: International Literacy
22: Hobbit Day
25: National Comic Book Day
October
Children’s Magazine Month
National Book Month
National Cookbook Month
National Reading Group Month
First Full Week of October: Mystery Series Week
First Full Week of October: Banned Books Week
6: Mad Hatter Day
16: Dictionary Day
20: National Day of Writing
Third Week of October: Teen Read Week
Third Week of October: Friends of Libraries Week
Third Week of October: World Novel Week - UNESCO
Last Friday of the month: National Frankenstein Day
31: Books For Treats Day - books instead of candy!
November
National Family Literacy Month
Picture Book Month
First Saturday of November: Book Lovers Day
1: National Authors Day
1: National Family Literacy Day
6: National Nonfiction Day
Third Full Week: National Young Readers Week
Third Full Week: National Book Award Week
18: High Five a Librarian Day
December
Read a New Book Month
10: Dewey Decimal System
24: Jolabokaflod, also known as the Christmas Book Flood (Iceland)