Discover the people, policies, and pivotal moments that shaped the ALA and the libraries we all rely on. Our anniversary blog is your behind-the-scenes look at the legacy we’re honoring and the future we’re building, with regular stories on how we’re celebrating.
The Future of Librarians: dLIST, a Story the Commons Keeps
The history of the Digital Library of Information Science and Technology (dList), the library field’s first open access disciplinary repository for Library and Information Science scholarship, shows what happens when a profession’s stated values and its institutional choices diverge at a technological inflection point.
REFORMA and ALA: 55 Years of History
ALA maintains partnerships with external organizations through its affiliates program. One of those is REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. For more than 50 years, the two associations have been partners in the goal of providing better library services to Latino communities.
For the Cornerstones of Our Communities: ALA and the Freedom to Read
Shortly after ALA was founded, it became clear that libraries needed a voice in government. ALA’s intertwined Public Policy and Advocacy Office and Office for Intellectual Freedom are that presence, ensuring that libraries and library professionals receive the support that allow them to succeed at providing equitable access to information for all.
Out of the Closet and Onto the Shelves
The American Library Association’s (ALA) Rainbow Round Table is a group with a lot of firsts. Formed in 1970 as the Task Force on Gay Liberation, under ALA’s Social Responsibilities Round Table, they were the first profession-based gay organization.
Blazing Trails: Stories from Pioneering Black Librarians
In 2018, American Libraries spoke with five leading African-American librarians about their careers, the changes they have witnessed over the decades, and the current issues in librarianship. While no two people have the same story, all five interviewees note inclusivity as an important theme. They discuss libraries as safe havens, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the history and future of the Association, as well as their legacies within the profession.
While ALA’s founding is technically in October, the staff at American Libraries put on their party hats early to celebrate ALA’s 150th year with a plethora of Association and library history-related stories in the magazine’s May 2026 issue.
Posters of Progress: Mapping ALA’s History Through Library Poster Art
From wartime appeals to celebrity-studded reading campaigns, library posters have long captured the evolving role of libraries in American life. This feature traces ALA’s history through some of its most iconic visuals. Together, these images chart a story of the profession’s unflinching ideals of access, literacy, and intellectual freedom, showcasing how libraries continue to reimagine their place in public life.
The Heartbeat of the Hall: 150 Years of Exhibitors Who Shaped Our Conference
Every year as the doors of ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition swing open, the exhibition hall comes alive. It is a ritual that has been repeated, refined, and reimagined throughout ALA’s 150-year history. And at the center of it all, providing the innovations, solutions, and partnerships that have propelled our profession forward, are the exhibitors. To mark this milestone, we look back at the rich history of exhibitors at the conference—where it began, how it grew, and why, 150 years on, the exhibition floor remains one of the most vital spaces in our professional world.
Charles R. Green at Camp Johnston: ‘We Can Find Such a Man’
During the summer of 1918, Charles Green, a librarian from the Massachusetts Agriculture College, served as the Acting Librarian for Camp Johnston in Jacksonville, Florida. While his tenure was brief, the Charles R. Green Papers in the American Library Association (ALA) Archives reveal Green’s rapid appointment and promotion. It also shows how quickly circumstances could change within the ALA’s Library War Service and the adaptability of its volunteers.
The Library War Service: ALA’s Book Campaigns in World War I
Historian Wayne Wiegand looks at ALA’s Library War Service, which the Association established in 1917 to provide books and library services to U.S. soldiers and sailors both in training at home and serving in Europe during WWI.
