February 4th is National Libraries Day. There are lots of ways you can show your support for local libraries and librarians: take a look at the National Libraries Day website for events and activities happening near you.

In The Library Book, published for National Libraries Day, twenty-three of our most outstanding writers describe libraries real or imagined, past, present, and future – why they matter and to whom. They are: Anita Anand, Julian Barnes, Bella Bathurst, Alan Bennett, Michael Brooks, James Brown, Ann Cleeves, Stephen Fry, Seth Godin, Susan Hill, Tom Holland, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Lucy Mangan, Val McDermid, China Miéville, Caitlin Moran, Kate Mosse, Julie Myerson, Bali Rai, Lionel Shriver, Karin Slaughter, Zadie Smith and Nicky Wire.

Incidentally, to celebrate the first National Library Day the Literary Gift Company have launched a range of bags, decorated with appropriate quotations, which cost £5: 50p of this will go to to the National Libraries Day campaign each time they sell one.