Off the Shelf: National Library Week
By Angela Spatafore on April 22, 2026
How do you find your joy at the library?
That is the question we are asking this week because it is National Library Week!
National Library Week is an annual celebration in April started by the American Library Association that highlights the valuable role libraries and library professionals play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities.
This year’s theme is Find Your Joy inspired by Honorary Chair (and new host of Reading Rainbow among other talents), Mychal Threets.
The consensus among our staff has been that we could all use a little joy right now, and I hope you are able to find your joy too.
When you come to the library this week, we hope you will take a second to visit the front entrance.
We set out paper and are encouraging everyone to answer the question I asked at the start of this post—How do you find your joy at the library?
You can give your papers to a Help Desk staff member, and they will add it to the wall of joy we are building in the entryway.
Our hope is to fill the windows with joy.
So, what is the deal with National Library Week?
In the 1950’s there was a noticeable decline in people reading as radio and TV became the primary methods of home entertainment and staying informed, and National Library Week was created in response to promote libraries and literacy.
I talk all the time about how the library is more than just books (although literacy remains a key component of the work we do here at the library).
Over the years, National Library Week has become an overall celebration of everything libraries do for their communities as the needs of 
the community shapes the role the library serves.
the community shapes the role the library serves.
Packed into the week are specific days celebrating aspects of the library.
On Monday, we had Right to Read Day, which champions and advocates for our right to read.
We also celebrate this right during Banned Books Week in October.
Tuesday was National Library Workers Day, which celebrates the contributions of our library staff.
Today is National Library Outreach Day, which recognizes the efforts made by libraries to meet patrons where they are without confining library services to library buildings.
Finally, tomorrow is Take Action for Libraries Day, which encourages patrons to advocate for their libraries.
If you want to learn more about this week’s history, feel free to check out the American Library Association’s website: https://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/national-library-week-history
We hope you will take the time to stop by the library or visit us at upcoming community events (we will hopefully see some of you at this weekend’s Annual Autism Walk at Bridgeport City Park) and tell us how you find joy in libraries.
Happy National Library Week!
Editor's Note: The above photo is during the National Library Week Proclamation at the April 13 Bridgeport City Council meeting.
