ALA Announces 2026 Recipients of Celebrated Library Intellectual Freedom Awards

The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the Public Library Directors Association of Alabama as the recipient of the 2026 Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award; Deborah Caldwell-Stone as the recipient of the 2026 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award; and Paul T. Jaeger as the recipient of the 2026 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award.

The Public Library Directors Association of Alabama (PLDAA) is awarded the 2026 Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award by the IFRT Coalition Building Committee. PLDAA, which had gone dormant around 2013, was revived in 2024 to provide resources to libraries facing book challenges. In addition to providing training and resources, PLDAA worked to improve communications between the Alabama State Library and local library directors. The Coalition Building Committee was impressed by how PLDAA was quickly resurrected, how they united a wide variety of allies, how they hired lobbyists, and how they defeated censorship bills in a very challenging environment. PDLAA continues to provide exceptional leadership and advocacy and is a model for other associations facing similar challenges.

The award is named after Gerald Hodges and consists of $1,000 and a citation. Hodges joined the ALA staff in 1989 as director of membership services and the Chapter Relations Office. At the time of his death in 2006, Hodges was the associate director of communications and marketing. Intellectual freedom and chapter relations were his passions.

Members of the Coalition Building Committee are chair Neal Starkey, Tippecanoe County Public Library; Leanne Cheek, Pioneer Library System; Elizabeth Doherty, Framingham Public Library; Kati Perez, Jefferson County Library; Ma’lis Wendt, retired librarian; Dorcas Hand, Students Need Libraries in HISD; Shenise McGhee, University of Arkansas; Roxanne Pico-Lenz, Pioneer Library System; Joshua Salmans, Texas Tech University; and James Mayes, Georgia Southern University.

The 2026 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award, which honors notable contributions to intellectual freedom and demonstrations of personal courage in defense of freedom of expression, is awarded to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, former Director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). The award selection committee was impressed by Caldwell-Stone’s distinguished career defending the First Amendment. She helped thousands of library workers over the last 25 years through her work as Deputy Director and later Director of OIF. Caldwell-Stone's support of the Law for Librarians and Lawyers for Libraries programs developed numerous cohorts of experts to support intellectual freedom across the country. Her essays and articles about privacy, ratings systems, and other complicated topics related to intellectual freedom have provided clear guidance based in the law. For years, her monitoring of state and federal legislation related to intellectual freedom kept the entire intellectual freedom community informed about threats to our freedom so that we could mobilize accordingly and work together across state lines. Caldwell-Stone has been a tireless advocate for our rights and an eloquent spokesperson for the profession.

The annual award consists of a citation and $500 and is named for John Phillip Immroth, a teacher, author, scholar, advocate, defender of First Amendment rights, and the founder and first chair of the Intellectual Freedom Round Table in 1973.

Members of the John Phillip Immroth Committee are chair Rebecca Moorman, University of Alaska Anchorage; Michael Blackwell, St. Mary's County Library; Matthew Good, Ursinus College; Amanda Jones, Louisiana Library Association; Paul Mills, Fountaindale Public Library District; Cyndi Robinson, Illinois Library Association; Samuel Rumore, Birmingham Public Library; Amanda Sand, Library Leverage; and Matthew Sylvain, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Paul T. Jaeger, professor in the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, director of the Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Graduate Certificate Program, and associate director of the Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility, is the 2026 recipient of the Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award. By tracing the global history of censorship in his article “The Immortality of Hatred and Revenge: The Interconnections of Censorship, Disinformation, and Cultural Erasure in the Book Bans Targeting Marginalized Populations,” Jaeger demonstrates that the goal of censors has always been the cultural erasure of vulnerable communities. Jaeger highlights the contrast between the librarian’s focus on the role of collections in book bans, and the censor’s focus on the people represented in library materials, a presence by which they feel threatened. The committee was impressed by his interdisciplinary approach to analyzing the causes of and potential solutions to the present surge in book challenges and bans in the United States, as well as his call to action for librarians in all kinds of institutions to counter attempts to erase cultures through censorship.

The Eli M. Oboler Award consists of $500 and a citation and is presented annually to a significant published work in the area of intellectual freedom, including matters of ethical, political, or social concerns related to intellectual freedom. The award is named for Eli M. Oboler, the extensively published Idaho State University librarian who championed intellectual freedom and demanded the dismantling of all barriers to freedom of expression.

Members of the Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award Committee are chair Annah Hackett, University of Texas at Austin; Johannah Genett, Hennepin County Library; Amanda Jones, Louisiana Library Association; Jennifer Keyser, Multnomah County Library; and Lisa Rand, Penn State Lehigh Valley.

The recipients will be recognized at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, 2026, during the IFRT Chair's Program: Intellectual Freedom: Navigating the Tension Between Beliefs and Principles (McCormick Place, W 194 B). Registered ALA Annual Conference attendees are welcome to attend the program, which will include light refreshments.

About the Intellectual Freedom Round Table
The Intellectual Freedom Round Table provides a forum for the discussion of activities, programs, and problems in intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians; serves as a channel of communication on intellectual freedom matters; promotes a greater opportunity for involvement among the members of the ALA in defense of intellectual freedom; and promotes a greater feeling of responsibility in the implementation of ALA policies on intellectual freedom.

About the American Library Association 
The American Library Association (ALA) is the only non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated entirely to America's libraries and library professionals. For almost 150 years, ALA has provided resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. The ALA serves academic, public, school, government, and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library's role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit www.ala.org