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#library30

 

On Wednesday April 1, 2026 I'll be rebooting the #library30 photo challenge and inviting people to participate in this year's event.

What is it?

Even though I work in a library, it's not uncommon for me (and others in the field) to look to related cultural institutions for new ideas and new perspectives. That's how #library30 happened. My wife (who worked directly with museum professionals at the time), alerted me to the #museum30 initiative that had been launched by Magnifying Zoology in 2017.

The premise was pretty simple. Participants worked from a set of daily prompts and posted pictures on social media related to the prompt along with the #museum30 hashtag. As I followed that hashtag and saw the amazing stories that were being shared, I thought, "Libraries should do that...". And #library30 was born.

A plain text list of these prompts are provided at the end of this blog post. 

How does it work?

All you have to do is upload a photo related to the daily prompt on the social media platform of your choice and include the hashtag #library30. This will allow others to easily find your post as well as those of other participants. It helps too if you also include the day of the challenge, the prompt, and even short description of why you chose that photo. A typical post might look like this:




As for the content, you're free (and encouraged) to interpret the prompts any way you like. Think of this as a chance for you to show your creativity and explore how the prompts relate to you, the community you serve and the library you love! 

When is it?

April is a special month for libraries. We celebrate National Library Week in April. We honor school libraries and librarians in April. April is National Poetry month. It also helps that there are 30 days in April! So, you guessed it, this year's #library30 photo challenge will run April 1 through April 30.

Who can participate?

Anyone who works in, volunteers for, uses, loves, supports, or otherwise finds a connection with libraries! Pretty much all of us.

Why do this?

My hope is that by participating in #library30 we'll be able to share our stories and the stories of those libraries that mean so much to us. Similarly, I believe that #library30 will offer many opportunities to connect with one another, learn from one another and inspire one another. That can only serve to make libraries even better.

Beyond that, it's no news to anyone in the field that libraries today are facing real challenges. Funding cuts, political attacks, material challenges, and a general pressure to abandon the values we hold close are issues libraries of all types regularly face. Exercises like the #library30 challenge give us the chance to reflect on what we do, strengthen our library community, and rededicate ourselves to the important work we're doing.   

Please Note: I'm no longer active on any of the legacy social media platforms (Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, etc.). If you're still using any of those products and are so inclined, feel free to pass along this blog post and share #library30 content there as well. 

#library30

1. Your library
2. Your workspace
3. Your happy place
4. Take a shelfie
5. Favorite book
6. Favorite sweater
7. Snack time
8. Rare and unusual
9. Before we open
10. After we close
11. Lost and found
12. The past
13. The future
14. Displays
15. Inclusion
16. Weeding
17. Community
18. Open to all
19. Controversial
20. Play time
21. Beverage of choice
22. Access and accessibility
23. Programs
24. Services
25. Collections
26. #saturdaylibrarian
27. What we stand for
28. What’s next?
29. Dare to dream
30. Why libraries?

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