April 16 is National Librarian Day in the US. To celebrate this day, we offer fifteen books and one film for those who love libraries and the people who make them places for everyone: the librarians.

Nicole A. Cooke
The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship: When They Dared to Be Powerful
ALA Neal-Schuman, 2025

The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship, by Nicole A. Cooke and Aisha M. Johnson, is a book about the trailblazing Black women who fought racism, sexism, and other hardships as they championed equity across libraries in the twentieth century. This book is a powerful archival story about women who have historically been hidden figures in librarianship but whose passion and courage paved the way for future generations of knowledge workers.

Sara Nisha Adams
The Reading List
William Morrow, 2021

The Reading List is a novel about an unlikely friendship between a widower and a library assistant. Both of these characters are struggling in their own lives, but they come together when a mysterious list of books appears in the library. The Reading List is a celebration of libraries, literature, and how powerful and transformative books can be.

Phaedra Patrick
The Library of Lost and Found
Park Row, 2020

In The Library of Lost and Found, by Phaedra Patrick, a lonely librarian receives a mysterious book from her deceased grandmother. This book sends her on a journey where family secrets are uncovered and the key to her own happiness is discovered.

Freya Sampson
The Last Chance Library
Berkley, 2021

The Last Chance Library is a cozy read about an introverted librarian who must campaign to prevent her hometown’s library from closing. Through campaigning, she is forced to open up to others in her town and confront her past.

Fiona Davis
The Lions of Fifth Avenue
Dutton, 2020

The Lions of Fifth Avenue is a dual timeline story: the first part of this book is set in the New York Public Library in 1913 and follows Laura Lyons; the other part of the story follows Laura’s granddaughter, Sadie Donovon, in the New York Public Library in 1993. Through both points of view, we see personal challenges and mysteries of theft in the NYPL’s rare books section.

Amanda Jones
That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America
Bloomsbury, 2025

Part memoir, part manifesto, That Librarian, by Amanda Jones, tells the story of a librarian from Louisiana who fights against book-banning. She advocates for inclusivity on the front lines of culture wars and calls upon all book lovers to fight with her in defense of readers.

Michiko Aoyama
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library
Trans. Alison Watts
Hanover Square Press, 2023

Michiko Aoyama’s What You Are Looking for Is in the Library is a Japanese novel that shows readers how the magic of libraries, friendship, and community is all you need when you’re stuck in an impasse. If you believe in the power of a perfect book recommendation to change someone’s life, this book may be for you, and if you don’t, it might change your mind.

Robert Dawson
The Public Library: A Photographic Essay
Princeton Architectural Press, 2014

The Public Library: A Photographic Essay, by photographer Robert Dawson, is a book of 150 photos that showcase the vibrant, important, yet very threatened system of libraries. Alongside these photos, there are essays from a variety of authors that share important stories to celebrate libraries around the world.

Eva Jurczyk
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Poisoned Pen Press, 2022

In Eva Jurczyk’s The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, readers follow librarian Liesl Weiss, who becomes interim library director when her boss gets sick. As she works, valuable manuscripts go missing and various themes emerge, like office politics, the dark side of obsession, and secrets hidden within libraries.

Marilyn Johnson
This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
Harper, 2010

This Book Is Overdue!, by Marilyn Johnson, celebrates libraries and librarians as she shows that libraries are more necessary and needed than ever today. This Book Is Overdue! is a walk through the ranks of information professionals who organize our messy world and offer old-fashioned help through a maze.

Kim A. Snyder
The Librarians
PBS, 2026

The PBS original film The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder, explores how restrictions placed on libraries’ collections are shaping our communities.

James Patterson & Matt Eversmann
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading
Little, Brown, 2024

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians is a collection of essays about librarians and booksellers, their passion for books, and the joy that comes to them when helping others discover a love of books.

Susan Orlean
The Library Book
Simon & Schuster, 2018

The Library Book, by Susan Orlean, uses the story of the unsolved arson of the Los Angeles Public Library as a starting point to discover the history, evolution, and importance of libraries and librarians in society. The Library Book makes it known that libraries are the cornerstone of communities, especially in the digital age.

Kyle Cassidy
This Is What a Librarian Looks Like: A Celebration of Libraries, Communities, and Access to Information
Black Dog & Leventhal, 2017

This Is What a Librarian Looks Like, by Kyle Cassidy, is another collection of photos and essays that offers a portrait of libraries as a tribute to librarians. Cassidy makes it his job to share how essential librarians are to communities across the world.

Andrew Pettegree & Arthur der Weduwen
The Library: A Fragile History
Basic Books, 2021

The Library is an exploration of the history of libraries and the people who built them. Historians Pettegree and der Weduwen introduce readers to some of the most historical and important collections of books and how they have shaped the world today.

Matthew Battles
Library: An Unquiet History
W. W. Norton, 2003

Library, by Matthew Battles, is an informative and provocative journey that shows how knowledge is preserved across generations amid the creative destruction of the twenty-first century.

University of Oklahoma