A Little Card, A Lot of Possibilities: Celebrating Library Card Sign-Up Month with Zoe Branch

Beginning in 1987, Library Card Sign-Up Month, led by the American Library Association, has encouraged families, students, and communities to sign up for a library card and discover the many free resources their libraries have to offer. Since then, thousands of public libraries and schools have participated every fall, stressing the importance of obtaining a library card. Library Card Sign-Up Month is the perfect time to visit your library, get your library card, and discover all the resources, programs, and surprises waiting for you. Consider this your sign to remind a friend to get their library card, too, and how they can get one in Libby.

 

 

September 1 is also National Letter Writing Day, making it the perfect day to celebrate the art of putting words on paper—and the magic of reading them. This year, we’re kicking off Library Card Sign-Up Month with typewriter poet Zoe Branch, who created a beautiful, original poem inspired by the possibilities that begin with a library card:

 

Go Get Your Library Card

 

"If it’s back-to-school season
if we’re all with our pencils
freshly sharpened and our hearts
with their hopes for the autumn
then why not also head down

to the library — free little
heaven — gentle center
of everything — to sign up
for a card. Pick out the picture
on the plastic — go ahead:
it might open a hundred doors
toward something magic,

all those books and museums,
all those tools you might
borrow and the instruments,
the courses, the cool air,
the quiet. If it’s finally

September then it’s time
to remember all
the wide ease of access
to anything you might want.
Worry not. The library
offers it."

 

A little more about Zoe:

 

Zoe is a New York-based writer best known for writing poetry for strangers in public spaces. Since 2018, she’s been setting up across the country with her typewriter — originally working exclusively on her great grandfather’s machine — and creating extemporaneous pieces of writing for others. After building a following for doing so, Branch is currently transitioning her focus toward publishing her first book.

 

Her debut novel, Daughter, Daughter, follows a young woman in 2016 New York as she navigates her relationship with her painting career, her motherlessness, and the empathic 6-year-old girl she’s hired to nanny. Readers can expect complex dynamics between women, their art, and the city they call home, creating a literary, page-turning meditation on what it is to be a maker of something — and what it is to leave one’s creation behind.

 

The book is on track to be pitched to publishers this fall by Branch’s agent, Haley Heidemann. When a release date is available, you can use the Notfiy Me feature to request the title to be a part of your library's collection. Want to see Zoe’s typewriter poetry in action? Watch her onstage poetry activation during this year’s Libby Book Awards. You can learn more about Zoe and even request a custom poem at her website.

 

 

So, this September, celebrate your library! Get a library card, visit your local branch, check out something new, tell a friend to get their card, and share what you love about libraries by using the official hashtag #LibraryCardSignUpMonth. And don’t forget to follow the American Library Association on social media for updates and join readers and library lovers everywhere in celebrating all that libraries make possible.