Governance

ALA stands with Ukrainian library community

CHICAGO — The American Library Association and its divisions support our Ukrainian colleagues and will work with the global library community to answer the appeal from the Ukrainian Library Association to provide accurate information as a means to support democracy and freedom of expression.

2022 ALA/Core Elections Open in March

CHICAGO—The 2022 ALA/Core elections open Monday, March 14. The Core ballot will include candidates for three Core Board positions: President-Elect, Councilor, and Director-at-Large.

The Core President is elected to a three-year term that begins at the conclusion of the 2022 ALA Annual Conference and ends at the conclusion of the 2025 ALA Annual Conference, serving one year each as President-Elect (2022–2023), President (2023–2024), and Immediate Past-President (2024–2025). The Division Councilor and Directors-at-Large are elected to three-year terms (2022-2025).

ALA names Maureen Sullivan Honorary Member

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) Council elected former ALA President Maureen Sullivan to honorary membership in the association, the ALA's highest honor, during the virtual 2022 Library Learning Experience. Honorary membership is conferred in recognition of outstanding contributions of lasting importance to libraries and librarianship.

ALA names Jim Neal Honorary Member

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) Council elected former ALA President and Treasurer Jim Neal  to honorary membership in the association, the ALA's highest honor, during the virtual 2022 Library Learning Experience. Honorary membership is conferred in recognition of outstanding contributions of lasting importance to libraries and librarianship.

ALA, ACRL issue joint statement in support of HBCUs after recent bomb threats

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of ALA, have issued the following joint statement in response to incidents of bomb threats against Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs):

Kathy Carroll, Sara Dallas to serve on ALA Executive Board

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) Council has elected Kathy Carroll and Sara Dallas to serve on the ALA Executive Board. The Executive Board election took place during the virtual 2022 Library Learning Experience. Elected board members will begin a three-year term beginning in July 2022 and concluding in June 2025.

Lanza-Galindo withdraws candidacy for 2022-25 ALA treasurer

CHICAGO — Oscar Lanza-Galindo, associate dean, Library and Learning Commons, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, has withdrawn his candidacy for treasurer of the American Library Association (ALA).

United for Libraries welcomes six new board members

EXTON, Pennsylvania — United for Libraries welcomes six individuals to its board. Mary Soucie, Camille McCutcheon, Kathy Kosinski, Peter Pearson, Ben Carter, and Debbie Smart have been appointed to board positions effective immediately. Each newly appointed member has active experience in library advocacy.

ALA announces slate of petition Council candidates

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) announces that the following individuals have filed petitions for the Councilor-at-Large position on the ALA Council for the 2022 ALA Election:

The American Library Association opposes widespread efforts to censor books in U.S. schools and libraries  

CHICAGO - Due to a dramatic uptick in book challenges and outright removal of books from libraries, ALA's Executive Board and the Boards of Directors for all of ALA's eight divisions have released the following joint statement regarding attempts to remove materials that focus on LGBTQIA+ issues and books by Black authors or that document the Black experience or the experiences of other BIPOC individuals: