Saturday, August 9th is Book Lovers Day.

I am a book lover, but I don’t think of Book Lovers Day as a special day just for me. Instead, I think of Book Lovers Day kind of like Earth Day. We should respect, care for, learn about, and protect our planet every day of every month of every year. Earth Day is one big extra-celebratory day when a whole lot of people focus on the same thing — our Earth.

Just like Book Lovers Day. Readers, book lovers, writers, booksellers — in one way or another, we all respect, care for, learn about, and protect our books every day of every month of every year. At the same time, it can be fun to organize a special day when people come together and talk about books, celebrate books, give books, buy books, and read books.

I have always been a book lover, even when I didn’t have the words for it. Growing up, I participated in our public library’s annual summer reading program. I visited the library each week, filling up my canvas tote bag, dutifully writing down the titles of the books I read on the library’s record sheet.

I grew up reading about Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. (If you don’t recognize those names, then I guess you didn’t grow up reading Sweet Valley High.) I saved my money to buy big, heavy, hardcover books about NASA and America’s Space Program. 

When I was in high school, I spent some of my lunches and after-school time volunteering in our school’s library. I liked books, and I knew our school library was understaffed and underfunded. (And, let’s be honest, I also knew that volunteering would look good on my college applications.)

And when I was a college student, I worked in a public library for a few years. I enjoyed seeing how all our different departments (including Circulation, Support Services, Reference) contributed to the end result — the book on the shelf. I remember the days of card catalogs, and if you don’t know what a card catalog is then yes, if you were wondering, chances are I’m much older than you are. (And you can click here to learn more about a library’s card catalog.)

As an elementary school teacher, I made sure each of my classrooms had a colorful, cozy, well-stocked library. Colorful as in big blue and pink storage bins from Ikea. Cozy as in pillows and stuffed animals. And well-stocked meaning fiction and nonfiction. Chapter books and picture books. An old set of encyclopedias. Guinness World Records books. A set of Little House on the Prairie books. Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Books by Roald Dahl and Kate DiCamillo.

And as a parent, I started building my son’s library before he was born, filling the shelves with books that celebrate diverse families (Todd Parr’s The Family Book, Shades of Black by Sandra L. Pinkney, Sesame Street’s We’re Different, We’re the Same). Books were a part of my son’s childhood — in the diaper bag, in the car, read at night, read during bath time, and read at a restaurant while waiting for his chicken nuggets and fries. Books were given as gifts for every birthday and every holiday. Our son knew there was always money for books — whether they were bought at a bookstore, or Target, or through the Scholastic order form sent home by his second grade teacher.

Nowadays, I go into an independent bookstore knowing I won’t leave without buying at least one book. I have run out of shelf space and started a pile of yet-to-be-read-books on the floor near one of my smaller bookcases. I regularly add titles to my list of want-to-read books. And, I continue to research publishing paths for my memoir-in-essays.

I did all that, I do all that, because I’m a Book Lover.

Every day.

Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I’m highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.