Meet the 2020 ALA Policy Corps

April 28, 2020

“ALA is proud to welcome our third cohort of Policy Corps members,” said ALA President Wanda Kay Brown in a March 25 statement. “As the number of Policy Corps members grows, so does the power and strength of our overall network for library advocacy across all library types. As our libraries—and the nation—struggle to respond … Continue reading Meet the 2020 ALA Policy Corps



From left: ALA President Loida Garcia-Febo; Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby; and Annie E. Casey Foundation President and CEO Lisa Hamilton at the US Census Bureau’s Census Day press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., April 1, 2019.

ALA Joins Groups Opposing Census Citizenship Question

April 2, 2019

“Accurate and reliable census information features in an astonishing array of decisions, from where voters cast their ballots, to where small businesses choose to invest, to how the federal government allocates money, to how emergency responders prepare for natural disasters, among many others,” the brief states. The brief argues that the US Commerce Department’s addition … Continue reading ALA Joins Groups Opposing Census Citizenship Question


Legislative Update

New Task Force for Federal Funding for Libraries

February 14, 2019

In fall 2018, ALA’s Washington Office engaged in a policy strategy retreat looking forward to the 116th Congress and the 2020 elections. Discussions addressed federal funding, improved broadband access, copyright, and other topics. The ALA Committee on Legislation (COL) then invited representatives from the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) to explore possibilities of … Continue reading New Task Force for Federal Funding for Libraries


Author Eric Klinenberg (Photo: Lisa DeNeffe)

Newsmaker: Eric Klinenberg

October 11, 2018

Klinenberg spoke with American Libraries about his lifelong love of libraries and the inadvertent lessons learned from Amazon stores. Your book opens with a discussion of the 1995 Chicago heat wave, which killed more than 700 people in just a few days. Why did you decide to start there? Eric Klinenberg: It was the first … Continue reading Newsmaker: Eric Klinenberg


ALA President Jim Neal

Hope, Power, Action

May 1, 2018

The current and prospectively annual battles over funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy have dominated our advocacy work. We have sustained and even expanded funding for IMLS in FY2018, but we are already pushing for support for FY2019 appropriations. At the same time, other important aspects … Continue reading Hope, Power, Action


Opening Session speaker Sally Yates addresses attendees at the Public Library Association Conference in Philadelphia on March 21, 2018.

Objective Truth Will Save Democracy

March 22, 2018

Yates, former deputy attorney general in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Obama administration and former acting attorney general, is perhaps best known for refusing to defend President Trump’s ban on travel from six majority-Muslim countries and her testimony before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism about Russian interference in the 2016 … Continue reading Objective Truth Will Save Democracy


Meet the 2018 ALA Policy Corps

January 29, 2018

The Policy Corps team will meet at the Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Denver in February, attend a workshop about political activism and the legislative process in March, and attend ALA’s National Library Legislative Day in May. Meet the first members of Policy Corps, a dozen people with diverse backgrounds and experiences who are united … Continue reading Meet the 2018 ALA Policy Corps


ALA President Jim Neal

Tying Up the Lion

January 2, 2018

I suggest we begin by engaging with other library associations, including the Special Libraries Association, Urban Libraries Council, Society of American Archivists, Medical Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Association for Rural and Small Libraries, Association for Library and Information Science Education, American Association of Law Librarians, Association for Information Science and Technology, Chief Officers … Continue reading Tying Up the Lion



Keith Michael Fiels

In D.C., It’s All about Our Values

March 1, 2017

As an Association, we advocate for a wide range of federal legislation and policy issues, from intellectual freedom and privacy to access to government information to preservation to copyright. We also advocate for funding for library programs, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), the E-Rate program, … Continue reading In D.C., It’s All about Our Values


At the ALA National Policy Convening, Alan S. Inouye (left) moderates a panel on "Future Directions for the Library of Congress," featuring Robert Darnton, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and university librarian emeritus of Harvard University; Sascha Meinrath, Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State University; and Katie Oyama, senior policy counsel of Google.

ALA’s National Policy Convening

April 19, 2016

The National Policy Convening brought together experts from across the beltway policy ecosystem to address some of the most pressing policy issues facing the library community. Programming consisted of three sessions: “Youth Engagement with Technology,” “Advancing Economic Opportunities in Communities,” and “Future Directions for the Library of Congress.” Youth engagement with technology Sen. Angus King … Continue reading ALA’s National Policy Convening