Library Card Sign-up Month
Celebrate Library Card Sign-up Month 2025 with the theme "One Card, Endless Possibilities."
It may be small, but a library card packs a mighty punch. Borrow museum passes, musical instruments, and even tools from your library’s collection. Take part in engaging programs like book clubs, movie nights, crafting classes, and lectures. Access technology, Wi-Fi, and career resources to support your goals, whether you're a student, job seeker, entrepreneur, or lifelong learner. It’s one card with endless possibilities!
Poster, poster file, and bookmarks, and artwork for library cards are available in the ALA Store!
Tools for Libraries
Let local media know about your plans for Library Card Sign-up Month:
Sample Press Release in Spanish (DOCX)
Library Card Sign-up Month is the perfect time to have your state or local government speak officially about the value of libraries.
Who Do You Want to Reach?
There’s no celebrity spokesperson this year—so the focus is on you and your community. Every library is different, and so is every library’s potential to grow cardholder numbers by identifying and reaching people who are currently missing out.
One great example comes from Amber McNamara, Community Relations Manager at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, who shared her team’s approach during a 2019 webinar (still relevant today!). They used:
- Census and local demographic data to identify underrepresented groups
- Address data from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to find families receiving free books but not yet connected to the public library
Ideas
- Do you have local influencers? Get them involved in promoting the library.
- Create social media posts for every day of the month to highlight all your library has to offer.
- Get your local government to issue a proclamation about Library Card Sign-up Month using the ALA sample proclamation.
- Get the word out to local press about your plans for Library Card Sign-up Month. ALA has a sample press release template that you can customize to fit your needs.
- Partnering with local businesses to offer a discount with library card or distribute information on the library is quite popular and effective.
Hamilton East Public Library in Noblesville, Indiana won a 2025 John Cotton Dana Award for their Show Your Library Card and Save Campaign. - Partner with local school libraries. Contact your local school librarians and administrators to discuss the possibility of classroom visits at local schools to present all the benefits of having a library card. If you have a mobile way to sign people up for a card, this is a great way to get kids signed up on the spot.
- Try a referral campaign. The Barrie Public Library in Ontario conducted a successful membership campaign in 2023 that promoted the library's offerings and included a referral contest.
Check Out Your Library
Library Card Sign-up Month sponsor OverDrive has an exciting new initiative, Check Out Your Library (COYL)! This multi-year program is designed to help libraries attract new and returning patrons by showcasing the incredible resources your library offers.
COYL has free resources to highlight your library's offerings and drive community engagement, including social images you can customize right in Canva, printable posters and fliers, a logo kit, programming guide, and more!
Plus, COYL will feature dozens of in-person events that shine a spotlight on the amazing resources available at libraries. OverDrive's Digital Bookmobile has been rebranded as The Library Vehicle (LV) and recently hit the road outfitted with book and film content designed to bring people on board, engage them, and ultimately sign up for a library card if they don’t already have one. Check out the LV's Fiction and Film Tour schedule.
Stay in Touch
Follow I Love Libraries, the American Library Association, and your library on social media.
#LibraryCardSignUpMonth
I Love Libraries: X (Twitter) @ILoveLibraries | Facebook @ILoveLibraries | @ilovelibrariesala
American Library Association: X (Twitter) @ALALibrary | Facebook @AmericanLibraryAssociation | Instagram @americanlibraryassociation | Threads @americanlibraryassociation
We'd like to hear what your library has planned for Library Card Sign-up Month or answer your questions. Contact us at [email protected].
Library Card Sign-up Month History
The campaign started in 1987 as a response to then Secretary of Education William Bennett, who stated, “Let’s have a campaign … Every child should obtain a library card and use it.” Read a detailed account in this 2015 blog post at the American Library Association Archives, A Library Card for Every Child: Library Card Sign-Up Month, by Cara Bertram.
For 25 years OverDrive has been on a mission to provide access to compelling, easy-to-use digital materials that reach, engage, and satisfy readers. Since 2002 we have worked with ALA member libraries to invest how libraries lend eBooks and digital audiobooks. Visit Overdrive.com to learn more.
Sora, the student reading app, is the easiest way for schools to provide ebooks and audiobooks to students. Developed by OverDrive Education, this app supports school libraries and classroom reading as well as free access to the local public library using school credentials. Available for iOS, Android and Chromebook.
OverDrive's free Libby app is the easiest way to get started with digital books, audiobooks, and magazines from your public library. Libby is available for Android, iOS, Windows 10, and some Chromebooks.
ALA Library Champions support ALA’s efforts in raising public awareness about the value of libraries and librarians.
