Photo of Kathleen Hanna

Newsmaker: Kathleen Hanna

May 10, 2024

  Hanna’s new memoir Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk (Ecco, May) chronicles the challenges and triumphs of her life before, during, and after navigating the male-dominated genre during the 1990s, spurring the Riot Grrrl movement and paving the way for other women artists. American Libraries caught up with Hanna ahead of the … Continue reading Newsmaker: Kathleen Hanna


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

Calling a Thing a Thing

July 20, 2022

The nonprofit ProLiteracy, one of ALA’s longtime partners, makes the connection between reading and health care agency. It points out that women with low literacy skills are at higher risk of “financial, health, and partner vulnerabilities throughout their lives,” potentially limiting their independence. That cyclical relationship—limited education and reading ability leading to limited economic opportunity … Continue reading Calling a Thing a Thing




Melinda Gates (Photo: Jason Bell)

Newsmaker: Melinda Gates

March 1, 2019

Gates spoke with American Libraries at the 2019 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits—where it was revealed that she would serve as this year’s honorary chair of National Library Week. The Moment of Lift is about lifting up women and girls. What do you mean by lift, and why is it so important? I … Continue reading Newsmaker: Melinda Gates


Melinda Gates and Nancy Pearl at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle.

The Moment of Lift

January 27, 2019

Melinda Gates opened her talk at the 2019 American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Seattle January 25 with effusive praise for her hosts. Her admiration for libraries is well documented: As cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, she has been at the forefront of philanthropic funding for libraries. The Gates Library Foundation, … Continue reading The Moment of Lift


Julie Foudy during the United States Women's National Soccer Team/South Korea Women's National Football Team international friendly match. (Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

Newsmaker: Julie Foudy

April 11, 2017

Where did the title Choose to Matter come from? It comes from a summer leadership academy we’ve been doing for 10-plus years, which is a combination of sports and leadership woven together for a weeklong residential camp. Our tagline is “Choose to Matter” with the kids, because our message is that leadership is personal, not … Continue reading Newsmaker: Julie Foudy


Heidi Abbey Moyer (Photo: Bob Skalkowski)

Bookend: A History of Women’s Lives

June 1, 2015

The Alice Marshall Women’s History Collection is named for Alice Kahler Marshall (1923–1997), a local journalist, researcher, and avid collector, who was fascinated by the “contradictions between the realities of women’s lives and the stereotypes of women’s behavior.” The collection, compiled over 50 years, encompasses material on all areas of women’s lives from the 15th … Continue reading Bookend: A History of Women’s Lives


ACRL 2015 in Portland: Sunny Skies, Serious Conversation

March 28, 2015

Safiya Umoja Noble, assistant professor in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, talked about how search-engine bias affects women and girls negatively in her presentation, “Searching for Girls: Identity for Sale in the Age of Google.” “What I’m asking us to think about today is: What does it cost us more broadly … Continue reading ACRL 2015 in Portland: Sunny Skies, Serious Conversation


An article titled "Spotlight on Women Managers" that was featured in the January 1985 issue of American Libraries.

Women in Management, Revisited

March 23, 2015

Recently, we followed up with four of those interview­ees to see how their experiences matched—or didn’t match—their expectations, their observations of the cur­rent state of library management and of women within it, and the lessons they’ve learned over their careers. Our interviewees are: BRIDGET LAMONT, director of the Illinois State Library from 1983 to 2000, … Continue reading Women in Management, Revisited