Press Releases

May 08: Honorary member nominations open

CHICAGO Nominations are being accepted for ALA honorary membership, the Association’s highest honor, which is bestowed on living citizens of any country whose contributions to librarianship or a closely related field are so outstanding that they are of...

May 06: Five win election to Freedom to Read Foundation Board of Trustees

CHICAGO Five members of the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) were elected to two-year terms on the board of trustees in the annual FTRF election.  Current FTRF President Julius C. Jefferson Jr. was...

May 06: United for Libraries presents Public Service Award to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)

PHILADELPHIA —  Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) accepted the 2014 Public Service Award, given by United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), on May 5 during National Library Legislative Day activities in Washington, D.C. He was introduced by Vermont State...

May 06: ALA Office for Diversity extends deadline for research grant proposals

CHICAGO The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity has extended its deadline for proposals for its 2014 Diversity Research Grants from April 30 to May 16, 2014.  Applicants must be current ALA members, and 2014 proposals may concentrate on...

May 06: RMRT announces winner of Norman Horrocks-Scarecrow Press Annual Conference Award

CHICAGO The Retired Members Round Table of the American Library Association announces that the winner of the Norman Horrocks-Scarecrow Press Annual Conference Award for 2014 is Jennifer S. Kutzik. She retired on June...

May 06: New activities coming to the Placement Center during the ALA 2014 Annual Conference

CHICAGO — During the ALA 2014 Annual Conference in Las Vegas, the ALA JobLIST Placement Center will introduce several new activities to help library workers get...

May 06: Accepting employer participants for the ALA Placement Center Open House

CHICAGO As part of its continuing efforts to provide networking opportunities for employers and job seekers, the ALA JobLIST Placement Center will host an Open House from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Sunday, June 29, 2014 during the American Library Association’s...

May 06: Dowling is LITA vice-president/president-elect; four new board members elected

CHICAGO — Thomas P. Dowling is the newly elected vice-president/president-elect of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Dowling is director of technologies at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University...

May 06: Advocate for libraries by participating in Virtual Library Legislative Day May 6

PHILADELPHIA – This week marks the 40th annual National Library Legislative Day. Hundreds of library supporters from all across the country will convene in Washington D.C., where they will be briefed on legislative issues affecting libraries and will meet with their members of...

May 06: ALA applauds imminent House Judiciary Committee markup of USA FREEDOM Act; urges improvement and passage in both chambers
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On the eve of the House Judiciary Committee’s May 7th markup of the USA FREEDOM Act, American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling today released the following statement:
 
“Librarians have fought for decades...
May 05: Ed McBride elected United for Libraries president-elect

PHILADELPHIA — Ed McBride, executive director of library sales for SAGE, has been elected 2014-2015 United for Libraries vice president/president elect.

McBride was formerly chief member engagement officer at LYRASIS, senior vice president of Cengage Gale’s Customer Resource...

May 05: Jeff Steely elected LLAMA president-elect

CHICAGO – The Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) announced today that Jeff A. Steely has been elected as president-elect. He is associate dean of libraries, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

After hearing of his election, Steely said, “I am delighted to have...

May 05: Learn how to keep your library (and everyone in it) safe with PLA’s violence prevention webinar

CHICAGO – Public library staff, by their sheer nature of being “public,” are particularly vulnerable to encountering dangerous or difficult individuals. Learn how to identify potentially violent behavior as well as strategies to diffuse or, in the worst case, survive the...

May 05: Library advocates to converge in Washington to protect libraries

Hundreds to gather in D.C. for 40th annual National Library Legislative Day

WASHINGTON, D.C.—This week, hundreds of library supporters from across the country will meet with their members of Congress from May 5–6, 2014, to advocate for library funding during the...

May 05: Ann Campion Riley elected ACRL vice-president/president-elect

CHICAGO   Ann Campion Riley, associate director for access, collections and technical services at the University of Missouri, has been elected ACRL vice-president/president-elect. She will become president-elect following the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las...

May 05: Preddy elected 2015-2016 AASL president

CHICAGO – Leslie Preddy, school librarian at Perry Meridian Middle School in Indianapolis, Ind., has been elected as the 2015-2016 American Association of School Librarians (AASL) president. Preddy will serve as president-elect during 2014-2015 under AASL President Terri Grief.

Upon...

May 05: Medlar elected ALSC 2015-2016 president
CHICAGO Andrew Medlar, assistant commissioner for collections, Chicago Public Library, has been elected vice president/president-elect of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). 
...
May 05: ACRL releases 'Snapshots of Reality'

CHICAGO The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the publication of "Snapshots of Reality: A Practical Guide to Formative Assessment in...

May 05: PLA members elect Oehlke as president-elect; Huggins, Sass and Shorr to board

CHICAGO — Vailey Oehlke, director of the Multnomah County (Ore.) Library, has been elected the 2015-2016 President of the Public Library Association (PLA). Oehlke acknowledged, “I am truly honored to have been elected. I am...

May 02: Medical Library Association guide to reference sources in the health sciences

CHICAGO — Prepared in collaboration with the Medical Library Association, the new sixth edition of “Introduction to Reference Sources in the Health Sciences,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, lists classic and up-to-...

May 02: Feldman wins 2015–2016 ALA Presidency

CHICAGO Sari Feldman, executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, Ohio, has been elected president of the American Library Association for the 2015-16 term.

Feldman received 5,184 votes, while her opponent, Maggie Farrell, dean of...

May 02: ALA councilors elected

CHICAGO 33 members have been elected as Councilors-at-Large on the Council of the American Library Association (ALA) for three-year terms. The terms begin at the conclusion of the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas and extend through the end of the 2017 ALA...

May 02: ALA President Barbara Stripling's free webinar series continues with 'STEAM in Libraries'

CHICAGO — STEAM Learning, a framework for teaching across the multiple disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, is the focus for the next webinar in Barbara Stripling’s “Libraries Change Lives” series.  This free webinar will concentrate...

May 01: Libraries working to bridge the cultural divide

CHICAGO Starr LaTronica, president, Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, writes...

Apr 30: Miguel A. Figueroa to head ALA Center for the Future of Libraries

CHICAGO — Miguel A. Figueroa, former director of the ALA Office for Diversity and Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, has been named to head the new American Library Association Center for the Future of Libraries.

As the first director of the new Center, Figueroa will be...

Apr 29: New AASL webinar promotes CCSS collaboration between school and public librarians

CHICAGO A new webinar from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) will explore the ways public librarians can become involved in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and support their school librarian colleagues....

Apr 29: Share your print materials at LLAMA’s PR X-change in Las Vegas

CHICAGO Are you wondering how to put your back inventory of calendars, brochures, flyers, postcards, annual reports and other print collateral to good use?

Send in your printed promotional materials now to share with colleagues at the...

Apr 29: LLAMA announces winners of ALA/IIDA Library Interior Design Awards

CHICAGO — The Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA), a division of the American Library Association, and The International Interior Design Association are pleased to announce the winners of the 2014 Library Interior Design Awards. This biennial competition honors...

Apr 29: Mind-bending mysteries and thrillers for teens

CHICAGO— There are plenty of mysteries in teens' lives, including physical and emotional changes, uncertainty about the future, and feelings between people. Seen in this light, the appeal of mystery stories and thrillers for this age group makes perfect sense: through a progression of...

Apr 29: ASCLA creates new consortial e-books interest group

CHICAGO The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), a division of the American Library Association, members have approved a petition to create the new interest group: Consortial E-books. 

The purpose of ASCLA’s...