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Celebrate the Semiquincentennial @ Your Library

Posted on February 9, 2026 by Aimee Owen

July 2026 marks the country’s 250th birthday, and communities all over the country are planning celebrations throughout the year. Is your library looking for ideas to get in on the festivities? We’ve found some resources to help you out. A few highlights:

  • PBS has posted their “America250 Reading List: Stories That Shaped a Nation.” We have several of these titles in our Book Club Kit collection, plus many more books on past presidents, plus history and historical fiction, so you can host your own Semiquincentennial Book Club.
  • Challenge your young patrons to be creative with the “My Nebraska, Our America” Public Art Design Challenge, coordinated by the Nebraska Art Council, Nebraska Department of Education, and the Semiquincentennial Commission. Submissions are due by April 1, 2026 and a selection of artwork will be included in a touring exhibition that starts at the state capitol building this July.
  • Host a group reading of the Declaration of Independence. On July 8, 2026, people all across the country will be “Sharing the Spirit of America” by reading this founding document aloud at the same time. You can add your location to the map!
  • Get your steps in. The Nebraska Department of Games and Parks is holding a 250 Mile Challenge to encourage outdoor recreation. The challenge runs (no pun intended) from January 1 – December 31, 2026, so you’ve got plenty of time to lace up those sneakers or hiking boots and hit the trails.
  • The American Association for State and Local History has a free program handbook with “more than 30 low-cost, sustainable program ideas to help organizations planning to commemorate the United States’ Semiquincentennial anniversary.”

Check out our American250 resource page for even more ideas and events. If your library has something fun planned, we’d love to hear about it!

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Celebrate National Poetry Month with the National Poetry Out Loud Competition

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Laura Johnson

poetryoutloudlogoAmanda Pohlman, a freshman from Skutt Catholic High School, Omaha, will compete for the National Poetry Out Loud championship in Washington, D.C. April 29-30, 2014. Amanda, who won the won the Nebraska state championship earlier this spring, is one of nearly 3,000 Nebraska students from 25 high schools that participated in Poetry Out Loud this year.

Poetry Out Loud is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.  The program encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. It helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. Now in its ninth year, Poetry Out Loud has grown to involve millions of students across the country.  To be eligible to participate, a high school must be registered with the state coordinator.  For more information on Nebraska’s Poetry Out Loud program, contact Anne Alston, EducationManager at the Nebraska Arts Council, at 402.595.2122 or anne.alston@nebraska.gov.

Poetry Out Loud offers educators free curriculum materials, a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, and video and audio on the art of recitation.  Download these resources and find out more about this program at http://www.poetryoutloud.org/.

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