Governance

ALA Nominating Committee announces councilors-at-large candidates

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) announced that 68 candidates are running for 34 at-large seats on the ALA Council.

The following candidates were accepted by the Nominating Committee (listed alphabetically by last name):

Tarida Anantachai
Interim Head, Learning and Academic Engagement
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
(Academic)

Antonio Apodaca
Education & Outreach Coordinator
Ventura County Library
Ventura, CA
(Public)

Hepburn, Lanza-Galindo running for 2022-25 ALA treasurer

CHICAGO – Peter Hepburn, head librarian at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California, and Oscar Lanza-Galindo, associate dean, Library and Learning Commons, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, are the candidates for the treasurer of the American Library Association (ALA) for 2022-25.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones and Isabel Wilkerson announced as ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition featured speakers

CHICAGO – The American Library Association today announced that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of “The 1619 Project, A New Origin Story,” Nikole Hannah-Jones will open the virtual 2021 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition, June 23-29, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” Isabel Wilkerson will be the ALA President’s Program featured speaker, invited by Julius C. Jefferson, Jr., ALA President.

Mary Davis Fournier named PLA executive director

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) announced today the appointment of Mary Davis Fournier as executive director, Public Library Association (PLA), a division of ALA. Her first day in her new role will be Monday, June 14.

ALA Nominating Committee seeks candidates for 2022 election

CHICAGO — The Nominating Committee for the 2022 ALA election is soliciting nominees to run on the 2022 spring ballot for the offices of ALA president-elect, treasurer, and councilor-at-large.

The Nominating Committee will select candidates to run for president-elect and treasurer and no fewer than 51 candidates for the 34 at-large council seats to be filled in the 2022 spring election.

The president-elect will serve a three-year term: as president-elect in 2022-23, as president in 2023-24, and as immediate past president in 2024-25.

Gordon Baker elected 2022-2023 United for Libraries president

EXTON, Pennsylvania — Dr. Gordon Baker, Dean of Libraries, Emeritus at Clayton State University and chair of both Georgia Library Association and Southeastern Library Association’s Trustees, Friends and Advocates Division and Section, has been elected 2022-2023 United for Libraries president. Baker will serve as president-elect during 2021-2022 under 2021-2022 United for Libraries President Charity Tyler.

Amy Koester elected ALSC vice-president/president-elect

Amy Koester, learning experiences manager, Skokie (Ill.) Public Library (SPL), has been elected vice president/president-elect of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). She begins her term as president-elect on July 1, 2021. 

Margaret Heller Elected 2021-22 Core President-elect

Margaret Heller, Digital Services Librarian at Loyola University Chicago, has been elected as the 2021-22 President-elect of Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Her term will begin July 1, and she’ll serve in that role until July 1, 2022, when she’ll become President of Core. Heller’s fellow candidate for President-elect was Maurini Strub, Director of Performance & User Engagement at the University of Rochester (NY) River Campus Libraries.

Pelayo-Lozada wins 2022-2023 ALA presidency

CHICAGO -  Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada, adult services assistant manager, Palos Verdes Library District, Rolling Hills Estates, California has been elected 2021-2022 president-elect of the American Library Association (ALA). Pelayo-Lozada is the first Emerging Leader to be elected ALA President; she was part of the 2011 class.

2021 Public Library Association election results

CHICAGO — Today, the Public Library Association (PLA) announced the results of its 2021 Election. Voting was available from March 8 through April 7, and open to all PLA members in good standing.

The members elected Dr. Maria Taesil Hudson McCauley, director of Libraries at the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Public Library to the office of 2022-2023 PLA president.