Fellow bookworms and bookish pals, it’s our time to shine — it’s Book Lovers Day! A day to celebrate the love of reading, books, libraries, bookstores, authors, and the smell of books! Yes, if you consider yourself a bookworm, you totally know what we’re talking about with that prime book smell.
In this article, we’re learning about when Book Lovers Day is and who invented/founded it, PLUS we’ve got 16 original and fun Book Lovers Day activities for you and 30 beautiful bookworm quotes that you can use for your bookish fancy on Book Lovers Day.
In this article
When is Book Lovers Day?
Book Lovers Day is annually celebrated on August 9th! That’s right; there’s nothing like a nice Summer read to really get into the bookish spirit. Each year, naturally, the date of Book Lovers Day won’t change, but the weekday will, and that can open up different fun opportunities!
Unsure of how to celebrate Book Lovers Day? Don’t worry, we’ve got quite the brainstorm list ready to go for you, fellow bookworm. But first, let’s see who started this whimsy holiday of Book Lovers Day.
Who Started National Book Lovers Day?
Here’s the big question mark, the hero in the cape, and all-bookish-mighty, who invented Book Lovers Day?
Was it one of the great authors of the 20th century? Or how about a baddie reader who wanted to spread the joy and love of books? Or the Pack Horse librarians who literally broke their backs every day in the 1930s to deliver books throughout the Kentucky countryside to families who didn’t have access? (True story, by the way. Check out the Pack Horse Librarians as an interesting facts flex for your Book Lovers Day festivities!)
Well, as it turns out, none of the above. As mysterious as a Stephen King novel, the founder of Book Lovers Day is unknown. Although this might not be a satisfying answer, it’s sort of magical in a way because Book Lovers Day is for all book lovers! No matter how long you’ve been reading or how many books you’ve read, books are for everyone.
So, if you must put a face to the name of Book Lovers Day, how about you think of your book hero? Who introduced you to the love of books? Did you have a favorite librarian growing up or to this day? Did your parent(s) read to you at night? That can be your Book Lovers Day founder in your eyes.
Now that we’ve got some learning in let’s move on to the celebration part! Time to party! And by party, we mean books, reading, and more!
How Do You Celebrate Book Lovers Day?
There isn’t a ‘wrong or right’ way to celebrate Book Lovers Day, that is, of course, unless you didn’t read at all GASP But we’ve got some fun, creative, and low-key ways of how do you celebrate Book Lovers Day that we’re excited for you to dig into!
- Re-read Your Favorite Childhood Book: Remember that book you used to beg for your parent(s) to read to you at night or the one you couldn’t help but check out every chance you could at your elementary library? Take a trip down memory lane on Book Lovers Day and re-read your favorite childhood book! Imagine the wholesome nostalgia and cozy feelings you’ll get from reading those magical words once more.
- Make a DIY Bookmark: Every bookworm knows you can’t have enough bookmarks, so why not make some, especially on or for Book Lovers Day?! Whether you use scissors and glue or a handy Cricut Joy Bookmark DIY, anyone and everyone can make a special bookmark!
- Book Club Founding/Meeting: Doesn’t a book club sound like the coolest thing ever? Well, round up your book-loving pals and make Book Lovers Day the anniversary date of your new book club! Starting a book club isn’t as intimidating as it may seem, and there are tons of interesting questions you can ask each other, fun activities, books to movies, silly Book Club names, and of course, so many book club books!
- Library Reading Date: Grab a fellow bookworm or have a me-date and head on over to the library for a relaxing bookworm reading date.
- Bookstore Adventure: Maybe you already have some books at home, buuuuut buying a book from an Indie Bookstore (shop local!) is a fun way to celebrate Book Lovers Day, dontcha think?
- Librarian Thank You Card: Librarians are the backbone of communities; they provide free services to all, and they’re always there to answer your questions. Wouldn’t it be the kindest, most thoughtful gesture to make a homemade card and deliver it to your local librarian? It would make their day!
- Mini Books DIY: What’s better than books? Mini Books! That’s right, adorable little paper mini books. But what shall one do with cutesy mini books? Well, you can make Christmas ornaments out of your favorite books turned mini book, or you can make mini books of all the books you’ve read that year and put them in a clear and larger Christmas ornament. Or, they just make for some adorable bookish decor! Want to make your own Mini Books, we suggest this awesome YouTube tutorial!
- Free Bookish Word Search: Looking for a more low-key (and free!) way to celebrate this brilliant bookish holiday? Download our Free Bookish Word Search! No emails or sign-ups, just a download click, and it’s yours. Print it off and do it with ease at the library, park, coffee shop, or in your favorite reading spot at home!
- Reminisce Your Reads for the Year: It doesn’t matter if you’ve read 2 books or a dozen; reading is reading, no matter the quantity! Ponder on the books you’ve read this year and which you’d recommend or want to explore more of that author. You could even start building your TBR (To Be Read) list for next year!
- Bookish PhotoShoot: This one is for all those Insta #bookaesthetic fans out there (us included!). What better day to have a bookish photo shoot than on Book Lovers Day? And what a great way to spread the message that it is Book Lovers Day, in case someone doesn’t know!
- Start a New Book: Perhaps you’ve been in a reading slump, or you’ve just finished a book, and you’re looking for a new one to fill that bookworm-sized hole in your bookish heart (we know the feeling). Amp yourself up by starting a new book right on Book Lovers Day!
- Writing Session: Where do books come from? Writers, of course! There’s an old quote that goes like this: “Everyone has a book inside them,” – Christopher Hitchens, so here’s your chance to take a wack at it and start brainstorming, practicing, and writing that wee book that’s living inside YOU!
- Free Little Library Adventure: Have you seen those cute Free Little Libraries around your city? Go on the Free Little Libraries map and see where they are around you and go on an adventure! Take some books along with you that you’d like to rehome, and perhaps you’ll find some books along the way.
- Book Fairy a Friend/Family Member: Book Fairy is a term that’s become popular in BookTok realm where people will surprise purchase a book on a fellow book lovers Amazon wishlist! If your friend, family member or mutual on TikTok has their list public, go ahead and be their Book Fairy!
- Letter Board Book Theme: Do you have a Letter Board at home? Use one of our 200 Letter Board Quotes for Readers to make your home/workplace even more Book Lovers Day festive.
- Read the Book, Watch the Movie: Is there a book you’ve recently read or read in the past that has a movie as well? Have a little movie night and discuss if you think the movie did the book justice or not. We all know the answer is “The Book was better”, but it’s worth a shot!
You can also celebrate Book Lovers Day by making a fun social media post of your choice; some bookworms may not know it’s Book Lovers Day! Below, we’ve got some lovely quotes that you can use as a nice little caption for the cherry on top.
Book Lovers Day Quotes
What would Book Lovers Day be without some whimsy and inspiring book quotes? You can use these for your DIY Bookmarks, take them as inspirations for your own reading/writing journey, use them for adorable Letter Board Quotes, or even use them as sweet Book Lovers Day Instagram/TikTok/Facebook/Tumblr posts!
- “Some women have a weakness for shoes… I can go barefoot if necessary. I have a weakness for books.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.” – Neil Gaiman
- “Cram your head with characters and stories. Abuse your library privileges. Never stop looking at the world, and never stop reading to find out what sense other people have made of it. If people give you a hard time and tell you to get your nose out of a book, tell them you’re working. Tell them it’s research. Tell them to pipe down and leave you alone.” – Jennifer Weiner
- “We live for books.” – Umberto Eco
- “She made her home in between the pages of books.” – Maggie Stiefvater
- “A book is really like a lover. It arranges itself in your life in a way that is beautiful.” – Maurice Sendak
- “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” – Anne Herbert
- “Books were safer than other people anyway.” – Neil Gaiman
- “I stepped into the bookshop and breathed in that perfume of paper and magic that strangely no one had ever thought of bottling.” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- “People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.” – Saul Bellow
- “The odd thing about people who had many books was how they always wanted more.” – Patricia A. McKillip
- “I know some who are constantly drunk on books as other men are drunk on whiskey.” – H.L. Mencken
- “When the Day of Judgment dawns and people, great and small, come marching in to receive their heavenly rewards, the Almighty will gaze upon the mere bookworms and say to Peter, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them. They have loved reading.” – Virginia Woolf
- “That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing.” – Anthony Trollope
- “Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day? I mean, aside from hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.” – Emily Henry
- “[I] read books because I love them, not because I think I should read them.” – Simon Van Booy
- “Dogeared pages were Antichrist of book lovers everywhere.” – Jennifer L. Armentrout
- “Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.” – Henry Ward Beecher
- “Sometimes, even when you start with the last page and you think you know everything, a book finds a way to surprise you.” – Emily Henry
- “You’re the only person I’ve ever met who can stand a bookstore as long as I can.” – Junot DÃaz
- “Solitary people, these book lovers. I think it’s swell that there are people you don’t have to worry about when you don’t see them for a long time, you don’t have to wonder what they do, how they’re getting along with themselves. You just know that they’re all right, and probably doing something they like.” – Helen Oyeyemi
- “To a bibliophile, there is but one thing better than a box of new books, and that is a box of old ones.” – Will Thomas
- “One day, she ventured to the palace library and was delighted to find what good company books could be.” – E. Lockhart
- “Music and books, they transport you. They make you feel in ways you didn’t know you could.” – Alechia Dow
- “If you truly love a book, you should sleep with it, write in it, read aloud from it, and fill its pages with muffin crumbs.” – Anne Fadiman
- “Do you know that books smell like nutmeg or some spice from a foreign land? I loved to smell them when I was a boy. Lord, there were a lot of lovely books once, before we let them go.” – Ray Bradbury
- “If you read a book, you will unlock unknown doors of your soul. And who knows; you can find a treasure inside…” – George Spyrou
- “All good and true book-lovers practice the pleasing and improving avocation of reading in bed … No book can be appreciated until it has been slept with and dreamed over.” – Eugene Field
- “I prefer to be left alone with my books.” – Alison Weir
- “For a certain kind of person there is literally nothing nicer than eating breakfast by yourself on a moving train with a good book.” – Lev Grossman
We hope you enjoyed learning all about Book Lovers Day and getting psyched up for this super fun holiday. Are you looking for more obscure holidays that you can celebrate and make your year more fun? Explore CardSayings.net for more quirky holiday fun!