Happy World Emoji Day!

What is World Emoji Day?

World Emoji Day is July 17th every year, and is a celebration of all things Emoji! It was founded by Jeremy Burge in 2014. Burge is the founder of the Emojipedia, which you can use to find the meanings behind emojis, learn interesting facts and statistics about your favorite emojis (such as the peach emoji), and learn about the newest set of emojis that are going to come out (That’s Unicode and Emojicode 14.0 for 2021-2022.).

Why July 17th?

This is the date that shows up on the Calendar Emoji 📅 because that was when iCal for Mac premiered at the MacWorld Expo in 2002.

What is the purpose of World Emoji Day?

From the World Emoji Day website: “We 💖 love emojis. You 💙 love emojis. Let’s 🎉 celebrate them! The purpose of 🌎 World Emoji Day is to promote the use emojis and spread the 😋 enjoyment that they bring to all of those 👬👫👭 around us. Emojis are for 😊 all of us.

Anyone can join in the celebration using the hashtag #WorldEmojiDay.”

How can you celebrate World Emoji Day?

Easy! There are plenty of things you can do to celebrate!

1. Join your Library in celebrating by dressing up as your favorite Emoji! Either come in and show us, or share a picture of you in your Emoji costume to any of our social media! We’ll have a contest for the best Emoji costume, and the top five will win an adorable Emoji plushy!

2. Watch The Emoji Movie (which you can request to borrow through IHLS).

3. Send messages to friends and families made entirely out of emojis.

4. Check out some of the Emoji inspired books below!

Emoji Books

Check out this selection of stories - both old and new - that we have available through our library system!

YOLO, Juliet, by William Shakespeare & Brett Wright

Two families at war. A boy and a girl in love. A secret marriage gone oh-so-wrong. What if those star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet had smartphones? The classic Shakespeare play told through its characters texting with emojis, checking in at certain locations, and updating their relationship statuses.

The Story of Emoji, by Gavin Lucas

This is the first book to explain the genesis and cultural significance of emoji, the world's cutest and most popular form of shorthand.

The Semiotics of Emoji: the Rise of the Visual Language in the Age of the Internet, by Marcel Danesi

Emoji have gone from being virtually unknown to being a central topic in internet communication. What is behind the rise and rise of these winky faces, clinking glasses and smiling poos? Given the sheer variety of verbal communication on the internet and English's still-controversial role as lingua mundi for the web, these icons have emerged as a compensatory universal language.

What a day…: A Story in Emoji, by Marcus Pfister

Raven is having a bad day. Or at least he thinks he is, until he bumps into a tree, and his day gets a whole lot worse.

TBH, This May be TMI: A Novel in Text, by Lisa Greenwald

Told entirely in text messages, the second book in this addictive series TBH from the acclaimed author of 11 Before 12 is perfect for fans of Lauren Myracle and Rachel Renee Russell. Cece has no time for her boy-crazy friends. She wants to make a bigger impact in middle school than just choosing the perfect kissy cat-face emoji.

We hope that you have tons of fun celebrating #WorldEmojiDay, and if you do anything special, or any of our recommended activities, don't hesitate to share with us on social media!