National Library Week is an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities.
In the mid-1950s, research showed that Americans were spending less on books and more on radios, televisions and musical instruments. Concerned that Americans were reading less, the ALA and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit citizens organization called the National Book Committee in 1954. The committee’s goals were ambitious. They ranged from “encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time” to “improving incomes and health” and “developing strong and happy family life.”
In 1957, the committee developed a plan for National Library Week based on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use libraries. With the cooperation of ALA and with help from the Advertising Council, the first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme “Wake Up and Read!” The 2023 celebration marks the 65th anniversary of the first event.
Read more here:
Here are my favorite online libraries with you (click here for updates to the list):
For Children
- Aesop for Children–collection of fables
- Actively Learn–add PDFs of your choice to a library that can be annotated, read, and shared.
- Audio Books–apps for books purchased through Audio Books (and free ones)
- Bookopolis–focused on student reading
- Books that Grow–read a story at many different reading levels
- Class Literature
- Epic–a reading library for kids, 15,000 books; most digital devices
- RAZ Kids–wide variety of reading levels, age groups, with teacher dashboards
- Reading Rainbow–library of books; free to try
- Tumblebooks (fee)–focused on student reading
For All Ages
- Free Books–download any of our 23,469 classic books, and read
- Actively Learn–add PDFs of your choice to a library that can be annotated, read, and shared.
- Bookopolis–focused on student reading
- Books that Grow–read a story at many different reading levels
- Class Literature
- Epic–a reading library for kids, 15,000 books; most digital devices
- Free Books–download any of our 23,469 classic books, and read
- Great Books Online by Bartleby
- Gutenberg Project
- IBooks–amazing way to download and read books.
- International Library
- Internet Archive— Internet Archive offers over 12,000,000 freely downloadable books and texts. There is also a collection of 550,000 modern eBooks that may be borrowed by anyone with a free archive.org account.
- Kindle–read ebooks, newspapers, magazines, textbooks and PDFs on an easy-to-use interface.
- Librivox–free public domain audio books
- Loyal Books
- Many Books–Over 33,000 ebooks that can be browsed by language, author, title.
- Online Books Page
- Open Library
- OWL Eyes–for the classics
- RAZ Kids–wide variety of reading levels, age groups, with teacher dashboards
- Reading Rainbow–library of books; free to try
- Tumblebooks (fee)–focused on student reading
- Unite for books (free) — gorgeous, easy-to-navigate site.
Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:
https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm
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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
