September 21-27 is recognized as Tolkien Week because the American Tolkien Society doesn’t understand Tolkien’s calendar. A few libraries are celebrating Tolkien Week this year. Perhaps more than I have been able to find online.
The Washington Centerville OH Public Library announced that it will be celebrating Tolkien Week.
Tolkien Week begins Sunday September 21 and ends on Saturday September 27. The week is dedicated to the ambitious writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. If you have never read any of his books The Hobbit is a great one to start with prior to reading the vast Lord of the Rings series. Then dive in to the series that has been revered copied and even adapted for the silver screen. The series starts with The Fellowship of the Ring followed by The Two Towers and ends with The Return of the King. Tolkien has many other works out there and the stories can be quite complicated. That is why there are numerous companion pieces which can be helpful to the reader. The Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Taylor Tolkien and the Invention of Myth edited by Jane Chance and A Tolkien Compass by Jared Lobdell are several such guides. Perhaps you are looking for works that celebrate Tolkien’s vast collection of stories and his life. A Tolkien treasury and Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon honor the works of this illustrious author. Whether you are reading Tolkien’s work for the first time or revisiting his world check out some of these books throughout the week!
Source: Washington Centerville Public Library Fine Print Blog
The Salt Lake City Draper Library is also celebrating Tolkien Week according to the Draper Library Calendar. They seem to be the only branch observing Tolkien Week but I did not have time to look at all their calendars.
The School Library Media Activities Almanac recognizes the week. But they don’t seem to recommend much that you can do to observe the week.
Maybe the reason why this celebration isn’t catching on (besides the bad calendaric calculations driving it) is that no one has really proposed an agenda to be observed. I mean everyone is just sort of left out their to devise their own program. You’ll never get much of a national tradition out of that.
So here are a few belated suggestions that schools and libraries may want to consider for celebrating Tolkien Week each year:
- Stage a play based on The Hobbit
- Stage a Readers Theater performance of The Hobbit
- Bring in a local Elvish expert to give some quick lessons in Elvish
- Put together an Elvish choir to perform some songs
- Have a Hobbit party with some of the foods mentioned in the books
- Host a Hobbit paint-off for kids where they paint a hobbit poster or picture
- Set up a Hobbit or Lord of the Rings Diorama
- Host a Feast of Good Children and read Smith Of Wootton Major
- Co-sponsor an event with the American Human Society using Roverandom for inspiration
- Host a series of critical paper presentations from local literature teachers and professors (and students)
- Hold a costume contest
- Hold a Tolkien Art exhibition
- Hold a Tolkien essay contest
Each of these events could be scored by Howard Shore’s soundtrack songs by Emerald Rose Glass Hammer and other Tolkien-inspired musical artists.
Programs directed toward children could be coordinated between schools and libraries. You could make September Tolkien Month and give the kids a chance to draw or paint their pictures. A lot of kids would go the extra mile to create dioramas I think. There seems to be no lack of figurines in gaming stores to help put the dioramas together.
While it may be too late to implement most of these ideas this week I think schools and libraries should look to Tolkien Week as an opportunity to help both kids and adults express their creative and analytical skills. There are many projects that could bring families together if local communities hosted a Tolkien Fantasy Fair the purpose of which would not be to compete with science fiction conventions but rather to cherish a story beloved by millions.
Many families celebrate Tolkien around Thanksgiving and Christmas too by rereading the books. Although September has been chosen by the American Tolkien Society to host Tolkien Week they are not the final authority on the matter. There are other dates in the calendar that are significant to Tolkien’s writings (particularly March 25 — but that’s a whole different can of calendaric worms).
I’d like to see some consistency in these attempts to build a Tolkien tradition in public schools and libraries. Tolkien is one of the few fantasy writers of the 20th century who crossed over into the mainstream imagination. Maybe people appreciate him enough to follow in his footsteps teaching their kids to look up to the stars and remember that they too are participating in a Great Story.