Happy National Libraries Day 2015!

National Libraries Day is today (Saturday 7^th February 2015) and it is the culmination of a week of festivities and celebrations for the extraordinary work that our libraries and librarians do.

This is a chance to say thank you to our nation’s librarians for the wonderful work they do. It is an opportunity to get people out to visit their library and see the amazing services our libraries offer - and join up if not already a member.

Most of all this is a reminder. This is a loud reminder that libraries matter to us all. On this day we can bond together and send a collective, public message to the decision makers. We can show them that we love and value our libraries and that we recognise that no one else can do the work of a professional librarian,

This is an election year, and so National Libraries Day is an opportunity to show the various political parties that we are a powerful, bonded and supportive group – and we will not stand for the destruction of something that is so vital to all of our communities. This is our chance to celebrate what we value, and what is so essential to the literacy of our entire nation.

National Libraries Day is a grassroots celebration led by library staff and library users. It is supported by CILIP and a coalition of leading literacy, reading, library and education organisations including the Reading Agency, the School Library Association and the Society of Chief Librarians – and you!

In 2014 NLD was hugely successful, but we can make it even bigger this year.  

We want to top this list from 2014….

§  Over 603 events were registered on the website,

§  Over 17,000  tweets were made using the hashtag #NLD14 (3 - 9 Feb)

§  It had a social reach of 286,000 through the Thunderclap

§  Nearly 31,000 Facebook users reached

§  Over 8,200 website visits (3-8 Feb)

….and we are well on the way towards beating these figures in 2015

Philip Ardagh knows exactly how to support librarians!

What can you do right now to show your support?

Email a quote or comment: approve a comment on what public libraries mean to you giving permission for us to use it on the NLD website and social media (include a pic we can use) Post this on social media and send to @CILIPinfo or via the NLD comment form.

Retweet our main message: “I’m sending a message that I love libraries & the wonderful work done by librarians.” RT to celebrate National Libraries Day #NLD15 

Share your support on social media

Follow @NatLibrariesDay and sign up to our Thunderclap.

Share a library #shelfie or two with caption /comment and upload to the NLD15 Flickr pool or send to us for uploading or tweet it using #NLD15

Lend your talents - Write or create something - could you find the time to write a blog, letter or create a piece of work about what libraries mean to you?

Find an event near you – get out and get into your local libraries (with our without chocolates!). Tell them who you are and let them know that you support them. The NLD map will show you where the registered events are.

We all know how important libraries are, but we can’t save them unless we put up a fight. All over the country both school and public libraries have been saved by public campaigns. Not many, but some. This is just the beginning. It’s not going to be easy, but we have to stand up and fight for what is right. We need to fight to make sure that our communities all get what they deserve; the essential service that only a library staffed by a professional librarian can provide.

Make a noise for libraries, before the silence falls forever.

Dawn Finch - Vice President CILIP
Children's author and library consultant

Those all-important links again...

Links

http://www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk/
NLD Events map – Nationwide Events map - Load the large map for the full list NLD on Facebook
NLD on Twitter -  #NLD15
NLD Flickr pool