International Archives Day
Next: June 9, 2027
Where the past keeps its papers.
The story
Where it comes from
International Archives Day was set by the International Council on Archives (ICA) at its Annual General Meeting in 2007. It marks 9 June 1948, the day the ICA was created under the auspices of UNESCO. The push came from the 2004 International Congress on Archives in Vienna, where some 2,000 participants asked for a day to mark the importance and value of archives. The first celebrations were held in 2008, for the ICA's 60th anniversary, and since 2019 the day has closed a full International Archives Week.
How it's celebrated
Archives and record offices around the world hold events alongside the ICA, showing off the unique, extraordinary and rare documents in their care and explaining why records matter for transparency, good government and memory. It is a good day to browse an archive's online collection, or to take out an old family letter and think about how to keep it safe.
Did you know
- UNESCO had already named 27 October the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in 2005, but the ICA wanted a day for all records, not only film and sound.
- Malaysia's Hikayat Hang Tuah, the epic of Melaka's most famous hero, was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2001; its two manuscripts, about 200 years old, are kept by the National Library of Malaysia.
- Like many Malay manuscripts, the Hikayat Hang Tuah carries no colophon, so its author is still unknown.
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- International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations · June 10, 2027
- International Day of Play · June 11, 2027
- Philippine Independence Day · June 12, 2027
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