150 YEARS STRONG

The History of School Library Month

April is School Library Month, when school librarians across the U.S. are encouraged to host activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school libraries play in transforming learning. For more than 40 years, School Library Month has highlighted the vital role school libraries play in the lives and education of our nation’s youth. It has a fascinating history.

The American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) efforts for a national School Library Month were spearheaded by Lucille Cole Thomas, chair of the School Library Media Month Committee. Thomas began her career as a librarian at Brooklyn Public Library, and she went on to serve with the New York City Board of Education as librarian (1956-1968), supervisor of library services (1968-1977), and as assistant director of the office of library, media and telecommunications (1977-1983). In 1974, April 30 was designated by New York Governor Malcom Wilson as “New York State School Library Media Day” thanks to Thomas’s efforts.

Lucille Cole Thomas
Lucille Cole Thomas

Thomas was appointed to the School Library Media Month Committee by AASL President Judy King in 1983. She and her committee diligently gathered ideas from previous state and local celebrations for school libraries and compiled a 52-page handbook for the first national observance. On April 1, 1985, their work culminated with the official start of School Library Media Month, which kicked off at a ceremony on the west steps of the U.S. Capitol. The theme of the first national observance was “Where Learning Never Ends: The School Library Media Center.”

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) delivered the keynote address at the inaugural event.

“I want to thank you for what you do,” Moynihan told the school librarians gathered at the Capitol. “I hope you know how important your work is. You change lives for the better. You touch people while they can still be touched.”

The Spring 1985 issue of School Library Media Quarterly. The cover shows photos from the first national observance.
The Spring 1985 issue of School Library Media Quarterly. The cover shows photos from the first national observance of School Library Month.

In 2010, the name of the celebration was changed to School Library Month after the Board of Directors voted to readopt the professional title “school librarian,” from the former “school library media specialist.”

Listen to a 2012 interview with Lucille Cole Thomas about the founding of School Library Month below.

The above was excerpted and adapted from “AASL Celebrates First National School Library Media Month,” which appeared in the Spring 1985 issue of School Library Media Quarterly (p. 83-84), and other sources.

150 YEARS STRONG

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School Library Month history graphic

The History of School Library Month

Phil Morehart April 30, 2026

April is School Library Month, when school librarians across the U.S. are encouraged to host activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school libraries play in transforming learning. For more than 40 years, School Library Month has highlighted the vital role school libraries play in the lives and education of our nation’s youth. It has a fascinating history.

Washington County Free Library's bookmobile

Books on Wheels

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In 1904, the Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, Maryland, outfitted a wagon with bookshelves to serve as a mobile library unit to reach people who could not normally make it to the library. The idea soon spread to other parts of the country.

National library Week poster detail

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ALA Archives April 20, 2026

Sponsored by the National Book Committee, Inc., and in cooperation with the American Library Association, 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!”

Overhead view of the entrance to Library 21 and the main exhibit space.

Library 21: ALA at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair

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The American Library Association predicted the future 64 years ago in Seattle—the future of libraries, that is. They called their premonition “Library 21,” an exhibition at the 1962 World’s Fair.

Music time at the Jarrell Community Library and Resource Center

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In March 2022, ALA announced a new project in partnership with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries, under ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative, to expand support for hundreds of small and rural libraries across the country.

1907 postmarked postcard of the Chicago Public Library

Why Chicago? ALA Headquarters, 1909

Wayne Wiegand April 9, 2026

Ask most ALA members why the Association’s headquarters is in Chicago, they’re likely to guess “center of the country.” Not so. ALA headquarters is in Chicago because in 1909 a group of Midwest librarians representing the interests of small public libraries outmaneuvered eastern librarians representing large library interests to wrest control of the Association the latter had held since 1876.