Council adopted the hybrid meeting rules (CD#5.1). A proposed amendment to limit debate to 10 minutes per motion did not pass. The agenda (CD#8.5) and the minutes from ALA’s 2026 Virtual Winter Council sessions (CD#2.3) were approved. ALA Executive Director Dan Montgomery reported on Executive Board actions since the January sessions (CD#15.1) and the implementation … Continue reading Council I: Moratorium on New Committees Approved
I invite you to join your colleagues at Annual to observe our past, reflect on our present, and envision our future. Attendees will have the opportunity to gather for the “ALA150: A Celebration for Our Libraries” reception on Saturday evening and immerse themselves in a variety of sessions highlighting key library moments under the ALA150 … Continue reading Rebirth and Reaffirmation
As I write this, still in my early weeks at the Association, I’ve been asked often about my own priorities for ALA. Well, my primary goal is this: to support us in achieving the vision outlined in the ALA Forward initiative. This includes ensuring ALA’s financial stability, fostering membership trust and growth, and bolstering advocacy. … Continue reading Reinvigorating ALA
Ladewski answered our 11 Questions to reintroduce himself to the ALA community. Coffee, tea, other? Coffee, one cup of hot coffee in the morning. What’s the first website or app you check in the morning? Weather app. On weekends, probably YouTube. Best career advice you’ve ever received? I’ve received a lot of good advice from … Continue reading 11 Questions: Bill Ladewski
Clockwise from top: Haley White, reference department manager at Springfield-Greene County (Mo.) Library District, takes a selfie with actor and author Max Greenfield during a book signing for his upcoming children’s title, Good Night Thoughts; Newbery Medal–winning author Jerry Craft captures a photo of the crowd during fellow Newbery winner Kwame Alexander’s talk on June 29; … Continue reading Bookend: Say Cheese!
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
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
In this fourth and final column introducing ALA’s newly implemented five-year strategic plan, I want to mine the connection between creating institutional belonging and facilitating the change management critical to organizational sustainability and impact. The first of these begets the second. In addition to the overarching goals of the new Pivot (or change management) Strategy, … Continue reading The Table and the Folding Chair
Lately, however, we have faced mounting external pressures against those core ideals. To name just a few: barriers placed on equitable access, a persistent lack of diversity and equitable mobility in the US workforce, proliferating attacks against intellectual freedom with increased challenges to LGBTQIA and antiracist content, the pandemic’s disruption to education and employment, and … Continue reading Membership as a Movement
Thanks to all who joined me last summer on the virtual “Holding Space” tour, a conversation series with libraries. I will forever remember you as faithful partners and travel companions as we faced seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Thanks in part to our advocacy, libraries secured federal relief funding of historic proportions. ALA staff and leadership managed … Continue reading Moving Forward
What do these events mean for libraries and the Association? Libraries and library workers had an important role leading up to the 2020 presidential election by encouraging and supporting voter registration, which led to more than 66% of eligible voters participating—making 2020 the most engaged election since 1900. No matter who you voted for, as … Continue reading A Place within ALA
Like other nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations, ALA exists because we seek to accomplish a mission, initially defined in ALA’s Constitution, “to promote library service and librarianship.” That critical social purpose was later more expansively stated in ALA Policy Manual, section A.1.2: “The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and … Continue reading Reflecting on Our Mission
