While my favorite time of year is Fall and Winter, from a school library perspective, my favorite is the Spring. Spring comes after the months of back to back library 101, start of year book checkouts, and author visits. I suddenly have more time to commit to the actual library space and any other projects I have put on hold. I am also much better, during this time, of keeping up with the many events and celebrations happening. Which is a good thing, because there is a lot happening in April.

The biggest celebration, of course, this April is the 40th anniversary of School Library Month. School Library Month became a national holiday with the hard work of Lucille Thomas. Thomas was chair of the School Library Media Month Committee in 1983, when it was still just a celebration for school libraries. But, It was not until April 1, in 1985 it became official. (“School Library Month History”). To learn more, there is a great blog post by Susan Hess, a member of the School Library Event Promotion Committee, for the KQ Blog.

I think in these very troubling times, where school libraries in particular are under attack, this month allows us to celebrate all the good school libraries do in a more visible way. There is an opportunity to educate members of our school community on all that the library does. From student and staff support, literacy training, and research.

But we also acknowledge school librarians are busy and advocating for the library can be a whole other job. With all this in mind, the event promotion committee has done our best to provide ready to use resources and materials. Some of the standout materials include an amazing scavenger hunt that can be adapted to fit your library. Great instructions for creating librarian secret pen pals or running some library trivia. In addition, there are also ready to use posters, cards, and bookmarks. All of this, and more, can be found on the School Library Month page.

April is really for libraries with some other great celebrations which include National Library Week (Sun, Apr 6, 2025 – Sat, Apr 12, 2025), National Library Workers Day (April 8, 2025), and National Library Outreach Day (April 10). In addition to the many library celebrations there is also Neurodiversity Celebration Month, D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read), Right to Read Day, Children’s Day/Book Day, Earth Day, and Arab-American Heritage Month. If you are looking for resources, there are some great ones for D.E.A.R., both for bringing it back at your school and supporting existing programs. Arab-American Heritage Month has a great resource page, which includes book lists. I work in an international school and always try to make as many heritage displays as I can throughout the year for my students.

While there is a lot going on in April, not everything needs to, or can be, celebrated. It’s always good to reflect on your community and their specific needs. But, by providing resources through the School Library Promotion Committee, we hope we can support you in celebrating as many as you want with minimal work on your part.

Don’t forget to bookmark the AASL School Library Promotion Events page so you can come back every month.

Sources:

“School Library Month History.” Ala.org, 2025, www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/slm/history. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.