National Library Week 2023

By Ying Yee Wong

Champaign Public Library

Let's celebrate National Library Week! This year, April 23 to 29 is recognized as 2023 National Library Week with the theme "There's More to the Story." People are encouraged to read books, support local libraries, and highlight the value of librarians and library workers.

National Library Week was first launched in 1958, sponsored by American Library Association. Then it becomes an annual event in April nationwide.

Champaign Public Library also celebrated this national event by organizing various events during the week, such as inviting great authors to the library for a talk or concert. Evelyn Shapiro, promotions manager of Champaign Public Library, said they have 30 events happening this week at the library. "It's a place for transformation. It's a place to save money. It's a place to celebrate reading and everything that goes along with it."

Eric Litwin was performing a family concert at Champaign Public Library.

Eric Litwin, New York Times best-selling author and the original author of the Pete the Cat series, was performing family concerts at Champaign Public Library yesterday. Many parents brought their children to enjoy the show together. "Pete the Cat has so many fans, young and old, so people are excited to be in the room with the joyful music." Said Evelyn.

There were many participants in the event. Zeyuan Gu was one of the participants to attend the morning section of the concert. He thought participating in the concert was really fun: "I felt joyful when I listened to Eric singing and playing with his guitar. It let my inner child out of me."

Evelyn said part of the audience came from other regions for this concert, "somebody drove over Springfield for this concert, which always happens for people from other areas to come here."

Even though National Library Week will end this Saturday, many public libraries still offer different kinds of activities to the public all the time.

"Like us (Champaign Public Library), other libraries have free events open to everyone, So I really encourage people to find something to enjoy at their local library," Evelyn said.