Celebrating Libraries

“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.” – Walter Cronkite 

This is National Library Week (April 8-14) and today (April 11) is National Bookmobile Day.   Celebrated since 1958, National Library Week is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country.   It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.   This year’s theme is “Libraries Transform: Libraries Lead.”

National Bookmobile Day is an opportunity for bookmobiles fans to make their support known—through thanking bookmobile staff, writing a letter or e-mail to their libraries, or voicing their support to community leaders.          

                                                                              Walter Cronkite & Misty Copeland

This year’s National Library Week Honorary Chairperson is American Ballet Theater principal dancer Misty Copeland, who also is a 3-time best-selling author for her memoir, Life in Motion, her picture book, Firebird, and her young people’s book, Ballerina Body. 

When asked by writer Amy Carlton what role libraries have played in her own life, Copeland said, “As a child, the library was a place to dream, learn, and escape. When you don’t have the means to travel or see possibilities for yourself, you can be transported through books and pushed to use your imagination.”

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