First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week, is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. 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.
National Library Week Honorary Chairs | National Library Week Themes
In the mid-1950s, research showed that Americans were spending less on books and more on radios, televisions and musical instruments. Concerned that Americans were reading less, the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit citizens organization called the National Book Committee in 1954. The committee's goals were ambitious. They ranged from "encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time" to "improving incomes and health" and "developing strong and happy family life."
In 1957, the committee developed a plan for National Library Week based on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use libraries. With the cooperation of the American Library Association and with help from the Advertising Council, the first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme "Wake Up and Read!"
National Library Week was observed again in 1959, and the American Library Association Council voted to continue the annual celebration. When the National Book Committee disbanded in 1974, the American Library Association assumed full sponsorship.
The American Library Association Archives Blog published an illustrated history of the event on April 10, 2015, by Lydia Tang, National Library Week: “For a Better-Read, Better-Informed America”.
Hashtag: #NationalLibraryWeek
To download free National Library Week tools and resources visit http://ala.org/nlw
The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize, is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, which was published in the United Kingdom or Ireland.
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The award is administered by the World Science Fiction Society.
The Lambda Literary Awards were born in 1989. The purpose of the Awards in the early years was to identify and celebrate the best lesbian and gay books in the year of their publication. The Awards gave national visibility to a literature that had established a firm if nascent beachhead through a network of dynamic lesbian and gay publishers and bookstores springing up across America. Since their inception, the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony has consistently drawn an audience representing every facet of publishing.
The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best writing in America. Since 1989, they have been overseen by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture.
The Costa Book Awards were one of the UK's most prestigious book awards between 1971 and 2021. Established by Whitbread Plc in 1971, they were known as the Whitbread Awards, until being rebranded as the Costa Awards in 2006 (Costa is a UK based coffee shop chain owned by Whitbread Plc.) The awards were discontinued in early 2022, before announcing the year's winners. A new set of awards, the Nero Book Awards, has been established to continue the tradition of recognizing British and Irish writing.
The Nero Book Awards celebrate the best books of the year written by authors living in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually to an author from any country who, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction."
Since 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards have honored outstanding voices in translation, fiction, poetry, science writing, essay, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama.
The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living Americans, Green Card holders, or permanent residents.
The Pulitzer Prizes are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts, and letters." They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher.
The Women's Prize for Fiction is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes. It is awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year.
The Neustadt International Prize for Literature, which used to be called the Books Abroad International Prize, is a prestigious award sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and by its international literary publication, World Literature Today. It is awarded to individuals for their entire body of work in literature.
Established in 1974, the National Book Critics Circle Award honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism and literature.
The Nebula Awards® annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers.