Red illustration of a stack of books with red text on a white background

The library aide is a helpful addition to the library family. Usually, someone who works with both librarians and patrons in the library as support staff. They might be found in the library stacks, shelving books as patrons return their books from circulation, or helping with research or scholarly needs in one of the hundreds of libraries throughout the U.S. today.

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Illustration of a Maurice Sendak creature pulling a wagon with books in it while reading a book over an illustration of the stat of Connecticut and with black text on a white background

“Connecticut libraries – they’re in the answer business” was a public relations campaign to promote public libraries as well as the services provided by the Connecticut Library Association. The campaign ran from 1981 – 1982 and featured illustrations by children’s author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak (1928 – 2012), on various promotional materials such as buttons, bookmarks, and bags. The illustrations were based on characters Sendak had created for his book, Where the Wild Things Are (1963).

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Red text on a white inner circle with a red outer edge with white stars

This button promotes the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Legislative Day. The ALA is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes libraries, library professionals and library education. Library Legislative Day occurs in May where hundreds of library advocates go to Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. to meet with members of Congress and their staffs. National Library Legislative Day first began in 1976.As of 2003 virtual meetings are added as part of the day as to allow the attendance for people who cannot go to Capitol Hill.

Green text and a green illustration of the United States with some states colored green on a white background

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment which was designed to guarantee equal rights for women. This amendment was first introduced in 1923, and in 1972 it passed both houses of Congress. Then later in 1977, the amendment received 35 of the 38 state ratifications. But five of these states would rescind their ratifications, and in 1982 the amendment ended and the ERA was not passed. This image on the button highlights in green the non-ratifying states. 

Black and red text on a white background

“Happiness is Having Your Own Library Card” comes from the Peanuts comic strip. The comic strip is of Charlie Brown’s little sister, Sally, walking while holding her library card, she then looks at it, smiles, and sighs. In the last frame of the comic strip she says, “Happiness is having you own library card.” After this comic strip came out the American Library Association started using Peanuts comic strips to promote reading. 

Blue text on a white background

The American Library Association (ALA) is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes libraries, library professionals and library education. The ALA supported the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in hope that the states would ratify the ERA by 1982. 

The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution to guarantee equal rights for women. This amendment was first introduced in 1923, and in 1972 it passed both houses of Congress. Then later in 1977, the amendment received 35 of the 38 state ratifications. But five of these states would rescind their ratifications, and in 1982 the amendment ended and the ERA was not passed. The original deadline for this ratification was 1979. This was extended to 1982. There were not enough ratifications by the 1982 deadline. The amendment is reintroduced in every session of Congress. 

Illustration of eyes and nose and white text on a pink background

This button was created for the ALA’s National Library Week. 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 1993-1996 was “Libraries Change Lives”.

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.