This page contains links to archived information about ALA's Past Presidents. Please view this Pinterest board from American Libraries for a pictorial listing of the all of the past ALA Presidents.
| Photo | Name | Years of service | Death date |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada | 2022-2023 | |
 |
Patricia "Patty" Wong | 2021-2022 | |
 |
Julius C. Jefferson, Jr | 2020-2021 | |
 |
Wanda Kay Brown | 2019-2020 | |
 |
Loida Garcia-Febo | 2018-2019 | |
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James "Jim" Neal | 2017-2018 | |
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Julie B. Todaro | 2016-2017 | |
 |
Sari Feldman | 2015-2016 | |
 |
Courtney Young | 2014-2015 | |
 |
Barbara Stripling | 2013-2014 | |
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Maureen Sullivan | 2012-2013 | |
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Molly Raphael | 2011-2012 | |
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Roberta A. Stevens | 2010-2011 | |
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Camila Alire | 2009-2010 | |
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Jim Rettig | 2008-2009 | August 17, 2022 |
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Loriene Roy | 2007-2008 | |
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Leslie Burger | 2006-2007 | |
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Michael Gorman | 2005–2006 | |
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Carol A. Brey-Casiano | 2004–2005 | |
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Carla D. Hayden | 2003–2004 | |
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Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman | 2002–2003 | |
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John W. Berry | 2001–2002 | |
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Nancy Kranich | 2000–2001 | |
| Sarah Ann Long | 1999–2000 | ||
| Ann Symons | 1998–1999 | ||
| Barbara J. Ford | 1997–1998 | ||
| Mary R. Somerville | 1996–1997 | ||
| Betty J. Turock | 1995-1996 | ||
| Arthur Curley | 1994-1995 | April 1, 1998 | |
| Hardy R. Franklin | 1993-1994 | August 21, 2004 | |
| Marilyn L. Miller | 1992-1993 | May 22, 2014 | |
| Patricia G. Schuman | 1991-1992 | ||
| Richard M. Dougherty | 1990-1991 | ||
| Patricia Wilson Berger | 1989-1990 | March 27, 2011 | |
| F. William Summers | 1988-1989 | August 12, 2016 | |
| Margaret E. Chisholm | 1987-1988 | November 20, 1999 | |
| Regina Minudri | 1986-1987 | June 18, 2021 | |
| Beverly P. Lynch | 1985-1986 | ||
| E. J. Josey | 1984-1985 | July 3, 2009 | |
| Brooke E. Sheldon | 1983-1984 | February 11, 2013 | |
| Carol A. Nemeyer | 1982-1983 | June 30, 2008 | |
| Elizabeth W. (Betty) Stone | 1981-1982 | March 6, 2002 | |
| Peggy A. Sullivan | 1980-1981 | April 13, 2020 | |
| Thomas J. Galvin | 1979-1980 | February 18, 2004 | |
| Russell Shank | 1978-1979 | June 26, 2012 | |
| Eric Moon | 1977-1978 | July 31, 2016 | |
| Clara Stanton Jones | July 1976-1977 | September 30, 2012 | |
| Clara Stanton Jones (Acting President) | April 11-July 22, 1976 | September 30, 2012 | |
| Allie Beth Martin | 1975-April 1976 | April 11, 1976 | |
| Edward G. Holley | 1974-1975 | February 18, 2010 | |
| Jean E. Lowrie | 1973-1974 | November 9, 2014 | |
| Katherine Laich | 1972-1973 | November 16, 1992 | |
| Keith Doms | 1971-1972 | September 26, 2009 | |
| Lillian M. Bradshaw | 1970-1971 | February 9, 2010 | |
| William S. Dix | 1969-1970 | February 22, 1978 | |
| Roger McDonough | 1968-1969 | December 2, 2001 | |
| Foster E. Mohrhardt | 1967-1968 | June 7, 1992 | |
| Mary V. Gaver | 1966-1967 | December 31, 1991 | |
| Robert Vosper | 1965-1966 | May 14, 1994 | |
| Edwin Castagna | 1964-1965 | November 26, 1983 | |
| Frederick H. Wagman | 1963-1964 | November 30, 1994 | |
| James E. Bryan | 1962-1963 | May 10, 2007 | |
| Florrinell F. Morton | 1961-1962 | January 1990 | |
| Frances Lander Spain | 1960-1961 | January 20, 1999 | |
| Benjamin E. Powell | 1959-1960 | March 11, 1981 | |
| Emerson Greenaway | 1958-1959 | April 1990 | |
| Lucile M. Morsch | 1957-1958 | July 3, 1972 | |
| Ralph R. Shaw | 1956-1957 | October 17, 1972 | |
| John S. Richards | 1955-1956 | December 1979 | |
| L. Quincy Mumford | 1954-1955 | August 15, 1982 | |
| Flora Belle Ludington | 1953-1954 | March 23, 1967 | |
| Robert Bingham Downs | 1952-1953 | February 24, 1991 | |
| Loleta Dawson Fyan | 1951-1952 | April 1990 | |
| Clarence R. Graham | 1950-1951 | January 28, 1989 | |
| Milton E. Lord | 1949-1950 | February 12, 1985 | |
| Errett Weir McDiarmid | 1948-1949 | April 27, 2000 | |
| Paul North Rice | 1947-1948 | April 16, 1967 | |
| Mary U. Rothrock | 1946-1947 | January 30, 1976 | |
| Ralph A. Ulveling | 1945-1946 | March 21, 1980 | |
| Carl Vitz | 1944-1945 | January 28, 1981 | |
| Althea H. Warren | 1943-1944 | December 21, 1958 | |
| Keyes D. Metcalf | 1942-1943 | November 3, 1983 | |
| Charles Harvey Brown | 1941-1942 | January 19, 1960 | |
| Essae Martha Culver | 1940-1941 | January 2, 1973 | |
| Ralph Munn | 1939-1940 | January 22, 1975 | |
| Milton James Ferguson | 1938-1939 | October 23, 1954 | |
| Harrison Warwick Craver | 1937-1938 | July 26, 1951 | |
| Malcom Glenn Wyer | 1936-1937 | December 31, 1965 | |
| Louis Round Wilson | 1935-1936 | December 9, 1979 | |
| Charles H. Compton | 1934-1935 | March 17, 1966 | |
| Gratia A. Countryman | 1933-1934 | July 26, 1953 | |
| Harry Miller Lydenberg | 1932-1933 | April 16, 1960 | |
| Josephine Adams Rathbone | 1931-1932 | May 17, 1941 | |
| Adam Strohm | 1930-1931 | October 30, 1951 | |
| Andrew Keogh | 1929-1930 | February 14, 1953 | |
| Linda A. Eastman | 1928-1929 | April 5, 1963 | |
| Carl B. Roden | 1927-1928 | October 25, 1956 | |
| George H. Locke | 1926-1927 | January 28, 1937 | |
| Charles F. D. Belden | 1925-1926 | October 23, 1931 | |
| Herman H. B. Meyer | 1924-1925 | January 16, 1937 | |
| Judson Toll Jennings | 1923-1924 | February 8, 1948 | |
| George Burwell Utley | 1922-1923 | October 4, 1946 | |
| Azariah Smith Root | 1921-1922 | October 2, 1927 | |
| Alice S. Tyler | 1920-1921 | April 18, 1944 | |
| Chalmers Hadley | 1919-1920 | May 11, 1958 | |
| William Warner Bishop | 1918-1919 | February 19, 1955 | |
| Thomas Lynch Montgomery | 1917-1918 | October 1, 1929 | |
| Walter Lewis Brown | 1916-1917 | October 16, 1931 | |
| Mary Wright Plummer | 1915-1916 | September 21, 1916 | |
| Hiller Crowell Wellman | 1914-1915 | February 3, 1956 | |
| Edwin Hatfield Anderson | 1913-1914 | April 29, 1947 | |
| Henry Eduard Legler | 1912-1913 | September 13, 1917 | |
| Theresa West Elmendorf | 1911-1912 | September 4, 1932 | |
| James Ingersoll Wyer | 1910-1911 | November 1, 1955 | |
| Nathaniel Dana Carlile | 1909-1910 | November 25, 1927 | |
| Charles Henry Gould | 1908-1909 | July 30, 1919 | |
| Arthur Elmore Bostwick | 1907-1908 | February 13, 1942 | |
| Clement Walker Andrews | 1906-1907 | November 20, 1930 | |
| Frank Pierce Hill | 1905-1906 | August 28, 1941 | |
| Ernest Cushing Richardson | 1904-1905 | June 3, 1939 | |
| Herbert Putnam | 1903-1904 | August 14, 1955 | |
| James Kendall Hosmer | 1902-1903 | May 18, 1927 | |
| John Shaw Billings | 1901-1902 | March 11, 1913 | |
| Henry James Carr | 1900-1901 | May 21, 1929 | |
| Reuben Gold Thwaites | 1899-1900 | October 22, 1913 | |
| William Coolidge Lane | 1898-1899 | March 18, 1931 | |
| Herbert Putnam | Jan.-Aug.1898 | August 14, 1955 | |
| Justin Winsor | July-Oct.1897 | October 22, 1897 | |
| William Howard Brett | 1896-1897 | August 24, 1918 | |
| John Cotton Dana | 1895-1896 | July 21, 1929 | |
| Henry Munson Utley | 1894-1895 | February 16, 1917 | |
| Josephus Nelson Larned | 1893-1894 | August 15, 1913 | |
| Melvil Dewey | 1892-1893 | December 26, 1931 | |
| William Isaac Fletcher | 1891-1892 | June 6, 1917 | |
| Samuel Swett Green | July-Nov. 1891 | December 8, 1918 | |
| Melvil Dewey | 1890-July 1891 | December 26, 1931 | |
| Frederick Morgan Crunden | 1889-1890 | October 28, 1911 | |
| Charles Ammi Cutter | 1887-1889 | September 8, 1903 | |
| William Frederick Poole | 1885-1887 | March 1, 1894 | |
| Justin Winsor | 1876-1885 | October 22, 1897 |