February 14 has long been associated with the prescribed trappings of love: chocolates, flowers and syrupy love songs. While the day itself can either evoke glee or gloom in lovers or the lovelorn thanks to shrewd marketing and the media, other worthy causes have claimed February 14 for their own, extending love in other dimensions: from children’s books to vaginas to cute cat videos.

If my previous sentence jolted you, let me explain.

February 14 is International Book Giving Day (IBGD). In 2012, the son of children’s book blogger Amy Broadmoore, conceived the idea of sharing his love of books and reading with children who otherwise may not have easy access to books. Broadmoore contacted several other book bloggers, who were only too happy to help spread the word, and IBGD was Born.

This 100% volunteer initiative encourages giving books as gifts to a young friend or family member, leaving books in waiting rooms where children can read them, or donating used books in decent condition to local libraries, hospitals, shelters or to organizations that distribute them to children in need internationally.

IBGD team leader Emma Perry told me that since its inception, the number of participating countries has increased, with Gibraltar recently joining amongst others, the Philippines, Nepal, India, South Africa, France, Pakistan, Germany, Nigeria, Fiji, Czech Republic, Cambodia, Hungary, Brazil and Romania. “In terms of volunteers, I have a lovely group of book bloggers from the UK, Germany and the Philippines who help spread the word every year.”

Also unique to this project is the annual selection of an illustrator to design the poster, bookmarks, and charming bookplates. “Past illustrators have included Vivianne Schwarz, Chris Haughton and Marc Martin. For 2017, we are very lucky to have Marianne Dubuc, which came about as a result of a meeting with her lovely UK publisher, Book Island,” Perry explained.

February 14 is also “V-Day”, with the V standing for “Victory, Valentine and Vagina.” It was inspired by playwright and activist Eve Ensler’s groundbreaking 1994 play, “The Vagina Monologues.” Based on Ensler’s interviews with women addressing their sexuality and the social stigma surrounding rape and abuse, the play enjoyed a five-year run off Broadway besides touring the US. Ensler was approached by women after every performance who shared their own experiences, thus making her realize that her play could be a vehicle to help create awareness of and end violence against women and girls. On Valentine’s Day in 1998, she established an organization called V-Day with a group of New York City women.

Since then, every February 14, groups worldwide are allowed to produce a performance of the play and other works created by V-Day, “and use the proceeds for local individual projects and programs that work to end violence against women and girls, often shelters and rape crisis centers.” The spotlight for 2017 is “Violence Against Women in the Workplace.”

Finally, February 14 is also the birth date of YouTube – the channel that helped launch the careers of singer Justin Bieber, and Michelle Phan (a.k.a Rice Bunny), whose beauty how-to tutorials have become some of the most subscribed on the channel.

And of course YouTube is also the source of countless cat videos, which can help cheer the cheerless on Valentine’s Day. Take it from an avowed cute kitty video junkie!

But however you choose to commemorate this date, given the current state of the world, it may not hurt to simply spread a little love.

After all, to paraphrase a recently coined tagline, “Love trumps hate.”

Author: Brenda Haas

Editor: Marjory Linardy

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