After nearly two decades Library Lovers’ Day has certainly made its mark in the library calendar. Instead of developing a unique theme each year ALIA will promote and support the day itself while leaving it to individual libraries to create their own version of it for their community. ALIA will provide an archive of key resources from past campaigns for libraries to use. These resources will be free to download from the Library Lovers’ Day Resource Hub on the ALIA website.
Since its inception in 2006 by the State Library of NSW, and throughout its tenure at ALIA, Library Lovers’ Day has grown exponentially. From 2016 onwards, the campaign has yielded over 100,00 visits to the LLD page on our website, 10,000 newsletter click thoughts, 200 news and media articles, 65,000 downloads of resources and a massive 190,000 instances of social media engagement. The day is celebrated not only in libraries around Australia but all over the world.
We’ve seen some fantastic and innovative Library Lovers’ Day initiatives through the years: everything from blind dates with books and speed dating events, love letters to libraries, events at Parliament house, community library book sales and author talks and many, many more. The themes have variously encouraged us to rediscover our childlike wonder, celebrate our favourite books and stories, spotlight the unique services and programs offered by the sector and, following the height of the pandemic, to return to our libraries.
What this level of engagement tells us is that Library Lovers’ Day has a robust and self-sufficient life within the sector. This is why we feel confident handing over the reins to libraries to devise themes of their own whilst at the same time supporting the campaign through access to resources and promotion as required.
We will continue to share all your posts, activities, stories and displays in the lead up to and on the day. Additionally, we’ll be encouraging libraries to integrate the Libraries Transform campaign and toolkit into their Library Lovers’ Day messaging.
Our full suite of resources will be available soon, so keep an eye on ALIA News and our social media channels for updates.
We are and will continue to be immensely proud of this campaign and its capacity to engage the sector and communicate the value of libraries to the broader community.