Governor Newsom proclaims California Library Week

SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation declaring April 19-25, 2026, as the "California Library Week."

The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below:

PROCLAMATION

During National Library Week, we celebrate the many civic contributions libraries provide to keep California communities strong. Over 1,000 public libraries across the state stand as safe havens and community hubs for anyone and everyone to access resources and services.

Libraries offer adult literacy programs; summer reading; resources for science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM); early learning for infants and toddlers; free summer meals for children; and services for job seekers. They offer free Wi-Fi, collaborative workspaces, career centers, quiet spaces for studying, and community gardens.

The driving force behind California's libraries is the workers who create a positive, welcoming environment and help people of all ages and backgrounds access the specific resources they need to succeed. Librarians catalog, preserve, and facilitate access to California's rich history and culture. They ignite the joy of reading and storytelling in children and provide a gateway to new skills, activities, and hobbies for all generations of Californians.

Libraries are bastions of intellectual freedom, home to countless ideas, worlds, and histories. For many marginalized groups, libraries are safe, inclusive spaces where they can find reflections of themselves among the shelves. Across the country, in the face of concerning numbers of increasingly hostile campaigns to ban books, librarians are bravely fighting back against these attempts at censorship.

When disaster strikes, libraries offer communities resilience, hope, and much more. They deliver trusted information amidst chaos, act as a hospitable place to meet disaster relief officials, serve as warming and cooling centers, provide charging stations for phones and laptops, and connect people to the resources they need.

We recognize the significance of books and materials that reflect the expanse of our rich diversity and embrace the essential role of public libraries in protecting our intellectual freedom.

Free and open to all, California libraries are the heart of our communities. During National Library Week, we honor our libraries, library workers, and the endless possibilities they provide to enrich the lives of all Californians across the state.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim April 19-25, 2026, as "California Arts Council 50th Anniversary."

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 17^th day of April 2026.

GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California

ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.
Secretary of State