Illustration of a blue lizard and a furry brown creature sitting in front of a television on a white background with pinkish red text above.

This button is most likely referencing the Action for Children’s Television (ACT), which was founded in 1968 by activist Peggy Charren. ACT was founded in an effort to encourage program diversity and eliminate commercial abuses in children’s television programming. Charren’s work with ACT culminated in the passage of the Children’s Television Act of 1990 and the organization was disbanded in 1992 because they had met the goals they set out to accomplish. In 1986, Charren co-authored the TV-Smart Book for Kids, teaching children to make informed decisions about what they watch.

Illustration of a character with long dark hair and a wide smile on a blue circle background with a green banner across the bottom with white text and red and blue text along the top edge on a yellow background.

This button comes from the Pizza Hut Book It! Program that was established in 1984 after President Ronald Reagan urged American corporations to get involved in education. The first button for the program debuted in 1985 and the program received a commendation from the White House in 1987. In 1989, Pizza Hut worked with the Library of Congress to help establish National Young Readers Day. The program encourages children to read by “rewarding their reading accomplishments with praise, recognition and pizza.” The program currently reaches over 14 million students in 38,000 elementary schools every year.

This button features the character Holly who can also be seen on this Book It button in the museum's collection.

Illustration of a grey computer and keyboard next to a yellow shape of a person, next to a blue open book on a blue and white background with black and red text along the top and bottom

BecomeALibrarian.org explains the advantages of becoming and being a librarian. It gives examples of particular personality traits that may make a person a good fit to pursue a librarian career. The site also provides guidance on education to become a librarian and jobs the types of jobs that are possible.

White text on a red stripe across the button on top of a white oval with black text and a blue triangle in the bottom right corner with darker blue text and a yellow band along the edge of it with an outer red edge

The Public Library Association is a division of the American Library Association. The PLA offers programs of communication, publication, promotion, and education to further the services of the Public Libraries. 

Red text on a dark yellow background

"Emergency Librarian" is a Canadian feminist periodical started by Sherrill Cheda, Phyllis Yaffe, and Barbara Clubb in the 1970s. None of them had had any previous experience in publishing, but wanted to provide a serious outlet for writing by and about women. They recognized the need to bring to light the perseverance of male-centric power being held over women in the workforce, in this case, libraries. The publication started as a simple typed up, stapled together journal that was sent out six times a year and is now under the periodical "Teacher-Librarian."

White text on a maroon background.

Adrian Mole is a character created by British author Sue Townsend (1946 – 2014). The quote on this button comes from The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ³/₄, which was published in 1982 and is the first in the eight part series. The remaining books follow Adrian throughout adulthood. The books are written in the form of a diary and the misadventures of Adrian offer a comedic view of the social and political environment in Britain.

Black and yellow text on a red background with an illustration of an open book

This button was created for the ALA’s National Library Week in 1991. Having begun in 1958, National Library Week is a week to celebrate the contributions of libraries and librarians in the United States. The theme for 1991 was “Read. Succeed.” and “Kids Who Read Succeed.”

The American Library Association is a non profit organization that supports and promotes libraries, library professionals and library education. The association was founded in 1876 and is the largest library association in the world.

White text on a red background

The "Reference is Cool" contest was held in 2005 by the publishing company Salem Press. The contest encouraged the public to think about how reference material, reference librarians, and the people who use this material are cool. Salem Press gave away this button as part of the contest.

Illustration of palm trees in green with an illustration of an open book in front with green text on a white background

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Illustration of a flower with black text above on a yellow background

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