SANDPOINT — The Academy of American Poets claimed April as National Poetry Month in 1996, and there are a lot of ways for lovers of literature to celebrate.

One way is through Poem in Your Pocket Day, which started in the office of the New York City mayor in 2002, said Julie Smith with the Sandpoint Friends of the Library.

"(The NYC mayor) decided to partner with his Department of Cultural Affairs in Education to declare a day where people would carry a poem in their pocket and share it with people on the commute, or when you are standing and waiting for a light, or people in your office, or people in your family — anybody," Smith said.

Last year, the Friends of the Library started a local Poem in Your Pocket Day movement as several merchants in the community set out baskets of pocket-sized poems, which they will do again this year. Smith said the Friends also do Poem in Your Pocket outreach to local seniors at Luther Park, the Sandpoint Area Seniors, Inc., and The Bridge at Sandpoint. A group of volunteers will also be out in the community handing out poems.

"We are trying to hit certain ones a little different this year than we did last year so that everybody gets to have some fun," she said.

Smith said she was a librarian at Sandpoint Middle School for several years, and some of the teachers there began celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day with the language arts students about eight years ago. Each of the kids would research poems in the library and pick a favorite, and then it was up to them to recite the poem to 14 people, who had to sign off on it, Smith said.

"It was kind of a fun thing they had to," she said.

In the absence of Mayor Shelby Rognstad, City Council President Shannon Williamson proclaimed April 26 as Poem in Your Pocket Day during Wednesday's council meeting.

The Friends of the Library is a supportive group for the East Bonner County Library District in Sandpoint, Smith said. While the schedule is off due to the library's expansion work, the group would typically hold a monthly used book sale.

Profits from the sales are used by the Friends of the Library to do things like sponsor programs at the library or buy items for the building, such as blinds or a podium. Also up until the renovation, Smith said, they would hold a monthly program at the library with speakers highlighting different organizations and people from the community.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.