150 YEARS STRONG

National Library Week: “For a Better-Read, Better-Informed America”

Sponsored by the National Book Committee, Inc., and in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA), the first National Library Week was launched on March 16–22, 1958. Citing a 1957 survey showing that only 17% of Americans polled were reading a book, the inaugural National Library Week slogan was “Wake Up and Read!”

The National Library Week initiative was the first nationwide effort to promote literacy for personal and national improvement, to celebrate the role of libraries in making reading materials accessible to everyone, and to highlight the varied career opportunities available within the library profession.[1]

National Library Week 1958 letterhead
National Library Week 1958 letterhead, from the ALA Archives

Although there had been previous local events celebrating libraries, such as the 1937 “Library Week” in Youngstown, Ohio, the 1949 “Know Your Library Week” in Jackson, Mississippi, and the 1952 statewide “California Library Week,” with the sponsorship of the National Book Committee and the ambitious direction by John S. Robling, former advertising and promotion director of the McCall Corporation’s (Clothing) Pattern Division, national attention to libraries had never been greater.[2] The first National Library Week engaged more than 5,000 communities throughout the country.  Hundreds of local and state communities and librarian committees engaged in public relations, promotion, and advertising campaigns to encourage reading and the use and support of libraries.[3] National magazines carried 22 articles reaching 68,000,000 readers; 14 radio and television network shows reaching another 170,000,000 homes, and more than $800,000 in broadcasting was donated for National Library Week. Newspapers published 11,607 major stories in just three weeks—a record in itself.[4]

National Library Week 1959 poster
National Library Week 1959 poster, from the ALA Archives.

In a summary of the first National Library Week printed in the ALA Bulletin, Robling noted: “What impressed us most—indeed what almost overwhelmed us were two things—the vigor, originality, and skill with which state and local committees, sparked by librarians, originated and carried through programs of amazing variety and effectiveness, and the warm and instant response to the aims of National Library Week we found everywhere—among broadcasters, newspapermen, magazine editors, civic leaders, educators, businessmen, everyone.” On reflecting upon lessons learned for future celebrations, “the most important thing it can learn—and has learned—is the tremendous strength that friends of libraries and books and reading have when they act together.  I don’t think any of us a year ago could have believed the response that was to come to this year’s effort. And this is only the beginning.”[5]

Upon the continued success of the following National Library Week in 1959, ALA Council voted to continue the annual celebration.  When the National Book Committee disbanded in 1974, ALA assumed full sponsorship.[6]

This year’s National Library Week will be celebrated April 19-25, 2026. 

Citations:

[1] quoted from “March 16-22 — National Library Week” The Advertising Council, Inc. Radio-TV Bulletin, March-April 1958, Record Series 74/1/5, Box 1, Folder: “Publicity and Promotional Ads, 1958-1961”

[2] “National Library Week, March 16-22, 1958” broadside, found in Record Series 12/1/5, Box 5, Folder: “National Library Week – Memos & Releases.”

[3] “April 12-18 — National Library Week”  The Advertising Council, Radio-TV Bulletin, March-April 1959, Record Series 74/1/5, Box 1, Folder: “Publicity and Promotional Ads, 1958-1961”

[4] Handbook for National Library Week, April 12-18, 1959, p. 7, Record Series 18/1/56, Box 29, Folder: “National Library Week, 1955-1959”

[5] Robling, John S. “Here’s What Happened.” ALA Bulletin. vol. 52, no. 6, June 1958. p. 431-435.

[6] “National Library Week Fact Sheet.” American Library Association. <http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/factsheets/nationallibraryweek>.

 

This story by Lydia Tang first appeared on the ALA Archives blog on April 10, 2015.

150 YEARS STRONG

THE OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY BLOG

Detail of letter from Lynn Blaylock to the Intellectual Freedom Committee.

‘Nothing Could Have Astonished Me More’: The Challenge of Consumer Reports

Cara Bertram May 21, 2026

Due to communist hysteria before and after World War II, many organizations and publications were under suspicion of being affiliated with or promoting the Communist party, including Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, the product testing and consumer advocacy magazine. As a result, Ohio schools banned the use of Consumer Reports in the classroom. While the ban was short-lived, the questions about it were not and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee noticed the attempts to ban the publication.

A detail from the Library Bill of Rights, 1967.

The History of the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund

Faith McConnon May 19, 2026

To financially support librarians who have been denied employment rights or discriminated against on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, age, disability, or place of national origin or denied employment rights because of their defense of intellectual freedom, ALA created the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund, named in honor of a staunch defender of intellectual freedom and editor of ALA’s Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom.

A Seat at the Table feature graphic

A Seat at the Table: Reflections from Eight ALA Trailblazers

American Libraries May 14, 2026

For 150 years, the American Library Association has shaped the landscape of libraries and the profession itself—but its leadership has often reflected the racial and gender biases of society at large. American Libraries spoke with eight barrier-busting Association leaders about their struggles, triumphs, breakdowns, and breakthroughs. The stories and lessons they share reveal how diversity fuels and transforms the power of libraries everywhere.

The School of Economy at Columbia College in New York City, class of 1888. Photo: ALA Archives

55 Moments That Redefined Librarianship

American Libraries May 12, 2026

As the American Library Association (ALA) celebrates 150 years, we’re drawing inspiration from key events since its 1876 founding: from the first conventions and library schools, through wartime and the fight for civil rights, to seismic technological advancements and the existential threats of the current moment. Though not a comprehensive timeline of library history, the milestones collected here demonstrate lasting impact and how libraries and the profession are intertwined with the American story itself—as repositories of memory, arenas of debate, and enduring instruments of democratic life.

Keynote speaker and author Phoebe Eng signing books

Shared Visions: The National Conference on Asian/Pacific American Librarians

Cara Bertram May 5, 2026

In 2001, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and the Chinese American Librarians Association partnered to host the first and only National Conference on Asian/Pacific American Librarians. The theme, Shared Visions: Heritages, Scholarship, Progress, was chosen “with a sincere commitment to representing the rich diversity of East, South and Southeast Asian and Pacific American ethnicities, cultures and communities.”

The Wellesley Half-Dozen

Jane Rodgers Siegel May 1, 2026

Although women had been employed in libraries previously, the six young women hired by Melvil Dewey in 1883 to work at Columbia College library captured the imagination of 20th-century library historians as groundbreaking fore-mothers of female employment and/or the beginnings of low-paid exploitation of women in the library workforce, but never as six young individuals at the beginning of six full lives.