In January I started working at a new library. One of the best things about this branch is the amount of display space I have for highlighting our children’s collection. But this also means I’ve been spending a lot of time whipping up posters and scouring the internet for display ideas. To get myself more organized I finally sat down and created a calendar filled with a year’s worth of display ideas.
This calendar reflects both my city (Vancouver) and my country (Canada), so not all the ideas will be applicable to everyone. With that said, sometimes I’m lenient on the “National” marker and included some U.S. special days. I also only listed ideas if I think I have enough material in my collection to fill (and refill) a display that will last at least a week. So unfortunately things like National Donut Day didn’t make the cut. Lastly, I didn’t include generic displays that can be put up anytime of the year.
I’d love to hear your display secrets! Did I miss any ideas your community loves? Please leave me a comment with your suggestions.
January
- National Hobby Month
- Tamil Heritage Month
- New Year’s Resolutions
- National Science Fiction Day (January 2)
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday: social justice books (January 15)
- Multicultural Children’s Book Day (Last Friday in January)
- Lunar New Year (end of January/early February)
February
- Black History Month (U.S.)
- Tu B’Shevat/Celebration of Trees (End of January/early February)
- Valentine’s Day/Blind Date with a Book (February 14)
- National Flag of Canada Day (February 15)
- National “I Read Canadian” Day (February 17)
- Pink Shirt Day: anti-bullying and books with pink covers (End of February)
- Freedom to Read Week (February 21 – 27)
- Oscars: movies and actor biographies (end of February)
March
- National Craft Month
- National Nutrition Month
- Monstrous March
- March Madness (sports books)
- Dr. Seuess’s Birthday (March 2)
- International Women’s Day (March 8)
- St. Patrick’s Day/Read Green (March 17)
- Spring Reads/Spring into a Good Book (March 21)
April
- National Poetry Month
- National Humour Month (joke and riddle books)
- Artsy April
- Math Awareness Month
- Stress Awareness Month
- Sikh Heritage Month
- Passover (varies)
- Easter (varies)
- Earth Day (April 22)
May
- Asian Heritage Month
- Middle Grade May
- National Bike Month
- May-nia (fill in with any alliterative title, such as Music May-nia)
- Star Wars Day (May 4)
- Mental Health Week (first week of May)
- Vancouver Bird Week (2nd week of May)
- Mother’s Day (second Sunday of May)
- International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (May 17)
- Ramadan (varies)
June
- Indigenous Peoples History Month
- Gay Pride Month
- Great Outdoors Month
- Italian Heritage Month
- National Garden Week (1st week of June)
- Summer Reading Club Launch (mid-June)
- World Refugee Day (June 20)
- Father’s Day (3rd Sunday)
- Summer Solstice (June 20)
- National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21)
July
- Summer Reads
- Canada Day/Canadian Reads (July 1)
August
- Family Fun Month
- Vancouver Pride Parade (Early August)
- International Cat Day (August 8)
- Book Lovers’ Day (August 9)
- International Dog Day (August 26)
- Summer Olympics (every 4 years)
September
- Classical Music Month
- SeptZenber: relaxing reads
- Back to School (September 4)
- International Literacy Day (September 8)
- Grandparents Day (2nd Sunday)
- Dot Day: books with dots/spots; art and drawing books (September 15)
- Science Literacy Week (3rd week of September)
- Fall into Reading (September 21)
- Rosh Hashanah (varies)
October
- Canadian Library Month
- Women’s History Month
- National Vegetarian Month
- Star Wars Reads
- Thanksgiving (October 9)
- Halloween (October 31)
November
- Picture Book Month
- National Novel Writing Month
- Dino-vember
- Remembrance Day (November 11)
December
- Human Rights Month
- Hanukkah (varies)
- Winter Solstice (December 21)
- Christmas (December 25)
- Kwanzaa (December 26)
Well, those are all great holidays and all, but without a National Doughnut Day celebration I don’t really feel like the year is complete! 😉
haha, if you plan it, I’ll be there!
In the U.S., May is National Pet Month so I put out a display with nonfiction pet books! Who knew there is such interest in ferrets among other pets! Great way to circulate nonfiction books that most tend to look past.
Love reading your blog! =)
Thanks, Emily! I may have to steal National Pet Month – such a great way to get those pet books circing.
Thank you, you are a mind reader this type of list has been on my To Do list (as you can see from that sentence my lists have lists!) for a while now. With this as a starter it doesn’t seem so daunting. One to add might be Dot Day in September, an international celebration of Peter Reynolds’ book The Dot. You would be amazed at the number of books including dots and spots. This also makes an ideal time to highlight all the art and drawing books.
I’ve added that one to the calendar. Thanks so much for sharing! I knew there were good ones I’m missing.
I love this list! 😀 I’m not sure if this is celebrated out of the US but I learned the other day that May is National Foster Care Month.
I think it’s just celebrated in the U.S. but like I said sometimes I steal your holidays 🙂
What an excellent list! Thank you.
In the US, November is Native American Heritage Month
Great list, love it! Adding “Star Wars Reads” in October to my list.
Forgot about that one! Just added it in. Do you know if it’s the same day every year?
I don’t think so, it seems to range sometime in the 1st week or so.
December is Human Rights Month– I’ve done a successful display for that!
I love using daysoftheyear.com to find cool and different holidays by the month, year, or even day!
Thanks for the link! And I’m adding in Human Rights Month under December – good one!
Hello – thanks for this list!
You may like to consider books about Vaisakhi during April, since this celebration ties well into a Spring display. Its inclusion offers a mirror for a diverse population (especially in BC), and a window for those readers wishing to learn something new. I do have a “Countdown to Vaisakhi” printable available for teachers interested on my author site – please feel free to reach out:)
One of the libraries in the system where I work attends the large Viasakhi Parade every year. It’s a wonderful chance to connect with community members. Unfortunately my library doesn’t have enough children’s books about the holiday to form a display, so I didn’t put it on this list. If you have any books on the topic you’d recommend, I would love to order them for my library!
Hello Lindsey,
If you are interested, you can check out my books at saffronpress[dot]com – The Garden of Peace is set amidst the historical backdrop of Vaisakh. There are many non-fiction books available about Vaisakhi but it is often included in books about the faith identity. This is why I had suggested a few books be included with your Spring display, since it’s a celebration set in the season of Spring. I’ve given specific ideas for kid-friendly activities in my Countdown to Vaisakhi resource too. Thanks for your consideration!
I need some idea or some topic for book display in December
There are some options listed on this calendar. A general “winter” display is always popular. You could also do a “Decemberly” display celebrating the author Ed Emberley.
International Dog Day is Monday, August 26
🙂
Oh, thanks for catching that! I actually like dogs better than cats so I can’t believe I missed it 🙂
Hello from Ontario- thank you for the list I have been racking my brain on Displays for some of the months, so this is very helpful and I’m totally doing a Dot Display!!!!
Here’s a few more for your list…..
January is Tamil Heritage month
February is Heart & Stroke month and don’t forget National Flag Day on Feb 15
March is also Italian Heritage Month
April is Sikh Heritage month and Oral Health month
May is also car care month
June is Italian Heritage Month and Stroke Awareness month
September is Hispanic Heritage Month, Arthritis awareness month
October is Islam/Muslim Heritage Month, Canada Library Month, Eye Health Canada Month
November CPR month, Diabetes Month, Community Safety and Crime Prevention, Health Food Month
Wow, thanks for these! I’m trying to keep this calendar centered around kid/teen friendly topics. I’ll add in some of the ones you mentioned for sure.
Thank you also. Don’t forget Groundhog Day (Feb 2) and Irish Heritage Month in March
Hi there.
Thanks for the list. Will you be updating your list and sharing? I’m not sure if you are still updating this site but Feb. 17th 2021 is National “I Read Canadian Day” this will be the second year.
Here is a link to the site:
https://ireadcanadian.com/day/
Thanks!
Hi Tara, thank you for sharing that special day! I feel like a bad Canadian for forgetting to include it. I have added it to the list and updated some of the dates. For things that change each year I’ve given a range as I will likely forget to update this calendar each year.
Thank you so much for this list! I’ve recently started working in school libraries and I was struggling to fill the display table, so this was incredibly helpful. Bookmarked!:)
Yay! I love when people bookmark my blog posts 🙂
We celebrated National Underwear Day (August) by having an underwear drive for area homeless shelters.
I love how you found a way to take the display one step further by helping the community. I want to look for more ways to do that!
Dyslexia Awareness Month – October