Library Lover's Day

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A fantastical image that says "Show the Love" with oversized characters and buildings including a dinosaur, the moon, a castle, a courthouse, and a beaker

Every February 14th, we celebrate Library Lover's Day to honor library staff and lovers of libraries. It is a day to celebrate the long-lasting relationship between libraries and the communities they serve. Without library staff, libraries would be lifeless buildings. Without patrons, library programs and collections would be stagnant. Dear reader, that is to say today is about us thanking you for loving your library! And - hopefully - you love us back! 

Library Lover's Day started in Australia through the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and has become an international celebration. This year's theme is "Show the Love." The announcement from ALIA shares, "It's a day to remember that our libraries are a place where we can get lost in an idea we are following, find an adventure we are seeking in a book, discover more about an issue we feel passionate about or get help from someone about something we want to know. These are all the reasons (and more) to celebrate the valuable roles libraries play in our lives and to re-engage with our libraries and 'show the love'."

Below, we've gathered a handful of books for a range of audiences that are about loving libraries, loving books, celebrating libraries, or take place in libraries!

The Little Library

by
Margaret McNamara

Everyone in Mr. Tiffin's class couldn't be more excited that the new school library has finally opened. Everyone except Jake. Jake is a slow and careful reader. Sometimes he reads the same page more than once to figure everything out. And he often feels left behind on class Library Day. All that changes when Librarian Beck notices Jake running his fingers across the grooves of a brand-new bookshelf and offers him an old, worn book: Woodworking for Young Hands. Jake checks the book out, studies the pictures and instructions, and renews the book again and again. When the school year comes to an end, Jake has the perfect gift idea for the librarian who changed his life--and he makes it with his own two hands

Moose's Book Bus

by
Inga Moore

Distinguished author-illustrator Inga Moore reunites the cast of A House in the Woods for another tale of friendship and ingenuity. When Moose runs out of stories to tell his family after dinner, he ventures to the town library for books. No sooner is he settled in at home to read them aloud than Bear, Badger, Fox, Hare, Mole, the Three Wild Pigs, and even the Beavers crowd in to listen. Soon everyone is packed in like sardines. What's a clever Moose to do? With its warm, whimsical cast and a snug woodland setting evoked by earthy illustrations, this playful nod to the power of books and libraries to create community will reward new and returning fans alike.

Lola at the Library

by
Anna McQuinn

Every Tuesday Lola and her mother visit their local library to return and check out books, attend story readings, and share a special treat.

Waiting for the Biblioburro

by
Monica Brown

When a man brings to a remote village two burros, Alfa and Beto, loaded with books the children can borrow, Ana's excitement leads her to write a book of her own as she waits for the Biblioburro to return. Includes glossary of Spanish terms and a note on the true story of Columbia's Biblioburro and mobile libraries in other countries. Story is written with parallel text in Spanish and English.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

by
Chris Grabenstein

Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library.

Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot to be one of the first 12 kids in the library for an overnight of fun, food, and lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors remain locked. Kyle and the other winners must solve every clue and every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route. And the stakes are very high.

In this cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Night in the Museum, Agatha Award winner Chris Grabenstein uses rib-tickling humor to create the perfect tale for his quirky characters. Old fans and new readers will become enthralled with the crafty twists and turns of this ultimate library experience.

A Kind of Paradise

by
Amy Tan

Amy Rebecca Tan’s debut novel is a heartwarming middle grade coming-of-age story about the power of community, the power of the library, and the power of forgiveness.

Jamie Bunn made a mistake at the end of the school year. A big one. And every kid in her middle school knows all about it. Now she has to spend her summer vacation volunteering at the local library—as punishment. It may be boring, but at least she’ll be able to hide from mean girl Trina, who’s always had it out for her, and beautiful Trey, the boy at the root of her big mistake.

Or so she thinks.

Not only does her job bring her face-to-face with both her mortal enemy and her ultimate crush, Jamie also encounters a territorial patron, an elderly movie fanatic, a super-tall painter who loves to bake, and a homeless dog. Over the course of the summer, as Jamie gets to know the library and the people in it, she finds—and gives—help where she least expects it.

And she just might find herself along the way. 

Ink and Bone

by
Rachel Caine

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.

When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn…

Magus of the Library. Volume 1

by
Mitsu Izumi

In the small village of Amun lives a poor boy named Theo. Theo adores books, but because of his pointed ears and impoverished life, he isn't allowed to use the village library. As he endures the prejudice and hatred of the village, he dreams of going where such things don't exist: Aftzaak, City of Books. But one day, Theo chances to meet a Kafna--a librarian who works for the great library of Aftzaak--and his life changes forever...

The Library Book

by
Susan Orlean

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.

In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago

The Starless Sea

by
Erin Morgenstern

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead.

Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life. 

The Paris Library

by
Janet Skeslien Charles

Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.

A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors—The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places. 

By Courtney on February 11, 2022