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ALA Interim Executive Director Leslie Burger

ALA Names Leslie Burger as Interim Executive Director

November 15, 2023

Leslie Burger is the American Library Association’s (ALA) new interim executive director, the Association’s Executive Board announced November 15. Burger served as ALA president for the 2006–2007 term. She also served as executive director of Princeton (N.J.) Public Library (PPL) from 1999–2016. Currently, Burger is founding partner of Library Development Solutions, a library consulting service, … Continue reading ALA Names Leslie Burger as Interim Executive Director →

2025-2026 ALA Presidential Candidates Sam Helmick and Raymond Pun

Helmick, Pun Seek 2025–2026 ALA Presidency

November 9, 2023

The announcement reads as follows: The candidates running for ALA president for the 2025–2026 term are Sam Helmick, community and access services coordinator at Iowa City Public Library, and Raymond Pun, academic and research librarian at Alder Graduate School of Education in Redwood City, California. Helmick is a current member of the ALA Executive Board … Continue reading Helmick, Pun Seek 2025–2026 ALA Presidency →

Our Shared Mission

By Emily Drabinski | November 1, 2023

As president of ALA during this critical moment in history, I get asked this question a lot. Libraries and library workers are both in the spotlight and under the microscope, and people want to know who we are and what we do. Maybe you’ve even asked this question yourself. One of the joys of this … Continue reading Our Shared Mission →

11 Questions: Jean Hodges

October 10, 2023

She answered our 11 Questions to introduce herself to ALA members. Coffee, tea, other? Team Tea all the way. Mostly English Breakfast or Earl Grey, although green tea is a lovely alternative. What’s the first website or app you check in the morning? I check notifications first, but then email is the first app for … Continue reading 11 Questions: Jean Hodges →

Executive Director Tracie D. Hall to Depart from ALA

October 5, 2023

ALA announced today that Tracie D. Hall will resign from her role as executive director following nearly four transformative years at the Association. Her last day will be Friday, October 6. During her tenure, Hall brought ALA greater public recognition, private funding, media visibility, and key partnerships. Upon her departure, she leaves behind a string … Continue reading Executive Director Tracie D. Hall to Depart from ALA →

Episode 87: Protecting the Right to Read

Call Number Podcast: Protecting the Right to Read

September 11, 2023

In Episode 87, Call Number looks at how libraries and library workers are on the front lines defending intellectual freedom. First, American Libraries Associate Editor and Call Number host Diana Panuncial speaks with Peter Coyl, immediate past president of the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and director and CEO of Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library. They … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Protecting the Right to Read →

Photo of ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall. Text says "From the Executive Director by Tracie D. Hall"

Growing Our Own

By Tracie D. Hall | July 19, 2023

At a break, one participant and I agreed that a key factor in libraries becoming an equalizing force in information literacy is serious and intentional workforce planning. To reach individuals and communities that most need support, we need to grow capacity within the field, both in terms of skill set and demographics. This is especially … Continue reading Growing Our Own →

Making Trouble That Matters

By Emily Drabinski | July 19, 2023

A few months into the gig, I made a mistake. I printed the number of bargains for one luxury department store on a two-page photo spread featuring a different luxury department store. I was in so much trouble. The magazine sent the store a huge bouquet of flowers as an apology, and I couldn’t stop … Continue reading Making Trouble That Matters →

ALA Responds to Montana State Library Commission’s Withdrawal of Membership

July 13, 2023

ALA is a non-partisan, nonprofit membership organization that develops, promotes, and improves library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all. ALA has remained committed to this mission since its inception in 1876, serving people of all demographic backgrounds and ideologies and becoming … Continue reading ALA Responds to Montana State Library Commission’s Withdrawal of Membership →

Council II: Condemning Discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ Community

By Judy Czarnik | June 25, 2023

Andrew Pace, chair of the Committee on Organization (COO), provided an update on the committee (CD#27.1) and introduced the following action items: Modify the charge of the ALA Conference Committee Modify the name, charge, and composition of the ALA Council Orientation Committee Both motions carried. Toni Negro, chair of the Policy Monitoring Committee (PMC), proposed … Continue reading Council II: Condemning Discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ Community →

ALA to Distribute $1 Million to Support Fight against Censorship

June 22, 2023

On June 22, the American Library Association (ALA) announced that it will be distributing $1 million to expand intellectual freedom initiatives. The full statement follows: ALA will distribute $1 million to support and expand intellectual freedom initiatives as the nation grapples with rising censorship challenges and seeks a greater array of resources to protect the … Continue reading ALA to Distribute $1 Million to Support Fight against Censorship →

Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

June 7, 2023

On June 7, the American Library Association (ALA) announced that Amy Lappin and Karen Schneider have been named to the ALA Executive Board. The full statement follows: Amy Lappin and Karen Schneider have been appointed by the ALA Executive Board to fill two newly created board seats. The vacant seats were formed upon adoption of … Continue reading Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board →

Latest Library Links

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Becky Siegel Spratford writes: “I am constantly correcting people—educated people, library users, readers—who think that when we buy a book for the library we get it in all formats for one price. They assume we pay slightly more [for electronic formats] than them, but they think for that price we get all those copies they see in our collections. We need to also work on how we communicate this issue to our card holders. So how can we share this complex issue more easily?”

RA for All, Sept. 11
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Chris Lewis writes: “For my generation and generations before us, the public library was an equalizing force in every town, helping anyone move toward the American dream. A ruling in Hachette v. Internet Archive has just thrown that promise of equality into doubt by limiting libraries’ access to controlled digital lending (CDL). On September 4, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals [affirmed a lower court’s decision that CDL through the National Emergency Library was not fair use.] If the courts won’t recognize CDL-based library lending as fair use, then the next step falls to Congress.”

MIT Technology Review, Sept. 11
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“Hispanic Heritage Month honors the contributions and influence of Hispanic and Latine Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States, and is celebrated from September 15 to October 15 annually. Check out these recent releases from authors of Hispanic or Latine background!”

Seattle Public Library, September
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Cara S. Bertram writes: “The year 2023 was another record-breaker for book bans. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) documented 1,247 attempts to censor library books and other materials—most of which were works by or about people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, or both. But attempts to limit access to literature in the US are as old as our nation itself. American Libraries travels through time to outline our country’s history of censorship—and the library workers, authors, and advocates who have defended the right to read.”

American Libraries feature, Sept./Oct.
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The Library of Congress’s 2024 Literacy Awards recognized four top honorees on September 8, International Literacy Day: The LaundryCares Foundation, an Illinois-based nonprofit that installs learning spaces in laundromats across the country; New Zealand’s Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori Inc., a network of schools working to preserve and promote the Māori language; We Need Diverse Books of Bethesda, Maryland, which helps authors and illustrators with diverse backgrounds get their books published; and the Alsama Project in Beirut, Lebanon, which educates Syrian refugee youth frequently left out of Lebanese schools.

Library of Congress Timeless, Sept. 9
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Michael Rodriguez writes: “In the first half of 2024, institutions of higher education in the United States closed permanently at the rate of one per week, according to one estimate, with little sign of slowing down. Where the author lives in Pennsylvania, eight colleges have closed, consolidated, or announced plans to do so since January 2024 alone. These closures directly impact small private colleges and the communities built around them, but closures also ripple throughout the academy, disbanding libraries and archives and endangering access to and preservation of the scholarly record.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Sept. 5
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Daniel M. Rothschild writes: “Discussions of reading habits typically break down, at least in the first instance, along the binary of fiction and nonfiction. If you ask most people what they read, they’ll give you some version of ‘mostly fiction’ or ‘mostly nonfiction.’ I write today in praise of a third genre that few self-respecting intellectuals admit to reading regularly, though many do: the reference book. Real reference books are unpretentious, which is part of their charm. You as the reader can make them comply with the demands of your knowledge, intellect, and time constraints, not vice versa.”

Discourse, Aug. 30

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