About ALA-Level Committees

Committees which are created by the Executive Board, Council, and the president are designated as committees of the Association and committees of the Council. The Bylaws provide for several types of committees: standing, special (limited to 2 years unless renewed by Executive Board or Council action), inter-divisional, and joint. (See Bylaws, Article VIII.) By Council action, July 1969, the Executive Board and Council may also designate as ad hoc committees those committees appointed to pursue a designated project within a specific period, the life of the committee ending at the conclusion of the project. Policies 6.6.1 and 6.6.2 further define committees.

Council Committees—Appointments to committees of Council are made by the Council Committee on Committees, in cooperation with the ALA president-elect who, as chair of the Committee on Committees.

Committees of Council include: Budget Analysis and Review; Diversity; Education; Intellectual Freedom; International Relations; Legislation; Library Advocacy; Organization; Council Orientation; Policy Monitoring; Professional Ethics; Public Awareness; Publishing; Resolutions; Status of Women in Librarianship.

ALA Committees—Appointments to committees of the Association are made by the ALA president-elect, who chairs and acts on the advice of the Committee on Appointments (Presidents-elect of the Divisions).

Committees of the Association include: Accreditation; American Libraries Advisory; Awards; Chapter Relations; Conference; Constitution and Bylaws; Election; Human Resource Development and Recruitment Advisory (Office for); Information Technology Policy Advisory (Office for); Literacy; Literacy and Outreach Services Advisory (Office for); Membership; Membership Meetings; Nominating; Research and Statistics; Rural, Native and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds; Scholarships and Study Grants; Training, Orientation and Leadership Development; Public and Cultural Programs Advisory; Website Advisory.

Joint Committees—The following joint committees have been established by Council action in accordance with Bylaws Article VIII, Section 5. Joint committees are of two types: (1) those established between ALA and an outside organization, in which case the ALA Executive Board is the appointing authority (the Board may ask a unit of the Association to name representatives to the joint committee) and (2) those established between a unit of ALA and an outside organization, in which case the appointing authority is the designated unit.

Joint Committees include: ALA/SAA/AAM Combined Committee on Archives, Libraries, and Museums (CALM); ALA-Children’s Book Council (ALA-CBC).

This page was created under the direction of the ALA Training, Orientation and Leadership Development Committee (TOLD). For additional assistance, comments or questions please contact the committee's staff liaison, Lorelle Swader.