This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Growing up, I had a very specific backpack that carried me through most of middle and high school. It had a zipper that did not go all the way around the bag but rather was on the top and opened in a circular pattern. This left a lot more space on my bag for things like pins and patches. I grew up in the hey day of third-wave ska, and my early high school years’ style could best be described as a little bit skater. Rather than iron on my patches — of which I had many — I attached them to the bag with safety pins (and I carried an old school lunch box as a purse). All of that is to say that were I still that kid in today’s world, where I didn’t have to go specifically to Hot Topic to buy my patches and could simply navigate over to Etsy, I would have been swapping out those patches all of the time, and I would have had a pretty impressive collection of bookish patches.
Enamel pins are, of course, still popular. But there are more and more sweet bookish patches making the rounds, too. These patches, some of which harken back to nostalgic favorites, are perfect not just for a backpack but for the canvas tote you now carry around to haul all of your current and forthcoming reads.
Even if you don’t attach them to a tote bag, you can use these bookish patches on your denim jackets (I know that’s cringe, Gen Z) or you can attach them to a banner or bulletin board in your house or workplace. Can’t use an iron to adhere them to something? I promise you safety pins work, too.
Let’s dive into the world of sweet bookish patches for readers. How fun would it be to slide one of these into a birthday present or greeting card for a book-loving friend?
Are you a book hoarder? Join the club. We have patches. $13.
Say all you need to say as simple as possible with an aqua colored bibliophile patch. $9.
This reading tiger patch reminds me so much of my youth and the kinds of fun prizes we’d get during summer reading club at the library. This vintage cutie is $4!
“Take a look. It’s in a book. A Reading Rainbowwwwww.” Need another old school throwback style patch? Here you go! $9.
This may be the most clever patch in this roundup, as it pays homage to one of the most famous paintings in the world. I need Birth of a Reader myself. $12.
Rep the library with this patch. Put it on your tote bag that you use for your library hauls. $13.
Last and absolutely not least, the only club I want to be part of ever is the baby cat book club, where the objective is to read books, take naps, and pet cats. $8.
