News and Press Center

Stay updated on ALA's latest news, events, and initiatives in libraries nationwide. Your go-to source for library innovation and impact.

Featured News

View All
Navigate through visible news articles using tab, or use the previous and next buttons to view more articles. Press Enter or Space to interact with article details.
Show Up for Our Libraries

April 9, 2026

ALA and AFSCME Prevail in Fight to Protect Libraries and Museums Nationwide

On April 9, 2026, the American Library Association (ALA) – the largest library association in the world – and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) – the nation’s largest union of cultural workers – reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that protects the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and ensures the agency will continue carrying out its congressionally mandated work.

Press Quick Links

ALA in the News

NBC News (logo)

New wave of bills targeting libraries is ‘a threat to our democracy,’ American Library Association warns

The association, founded in 1876, condemned legislation that would threaten librarians and other educators with criminal prosecution for possessing “obscene” material.
 

 

More media coverage

All News

Information Governance and Assurance: Reducing Risk, Promoting Policy

Information governance and security

CHICAGO — Written by Alan MacLennan, “ Information Governance and Assurance: Reducing Risk, Promoting Policy,” published by Facet Publishing and available through the ALA Store, is a comprehensive textbook that discusses the legal, organizational and...

75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights

CHICAGO — Seventy-five years ago at the 1939 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, the ALA Council adopted the Library’s Bill of Rights, echoing the spirit of a document from the Des Moines Public Library in 1938. This document, refreshed in 1944, 1948...

Over-filtering in schools and libraries harms education, new ALA report finds

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Schools and libraries nationwide are routinely filtering internet content far more than what the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires, according to “Fencing Out Knowledge: Impacts of the Children’s Internet Protection Act 10...

Banned Books Week 2014 celebrates graphic novels

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA), with the national Banned Books Week planning committee, today announced that this year's celebration of the freedom to read will emphasize a thematic focus on comics and graphic novels. This year's Banned...

John Mack Freeman

John 'Mack' Freeman awarded 2014 Gordon M. Conable Conference Scholarship

CHICAGO — The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) has selected John "Mack" Freeman, a public librarian in Georgia, as the seventh recipient of the Gordon M. Conable Conference Scholarship. The Conable Scholarship will provide for Freeman's expenses to...

Gerald Hodges

NJLA Intellectual Freedom Committee receives the 2014 Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations award

CHICAGO — The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) announces that The New Jersey Library Association (NJLA) Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) is the recipient of the 2014 Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom...

Registration now open for Choose Privacy Week 2014 webinar,'Defense Against the Digital Dark Arts'

CHICAGO — Dark forces conspire online to undermine privacy, compromise accounts, stalk, troll and just plain creep us out. Libraries have a longstanding tradition of protecting their users’ privacy and confidentiality, but often fail to take basic steps...

Privacy All Year Round: Choose Privacy Week, May 1 – 7, 2014

CHICAGO – Each year on May 1, librarians, library users and privacy advocates come together to observe Choose Privacy Week - an annual event promoting the importance of individual privacy rights. But protecting and promoting privacy in libraries and in...

FTRF Krug Fund Banned Books Week grant applications open through April 30 (Now May 5)

CHICAGO — Applications are now open for the 2014 Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund Banned Books Week event grants, sponsored by the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF). Organizations are encouraged to apply for grants of $1,000 and/or $2,500 in support of "Read...

ALA joins SXSW technology policy discussions

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) will join the technology policy conversations in play at the South by Southwest EDU and Interactive conferences in Austin starting this week. Privacy and the “internet of things” will be among the topics on...

FTRF, ALA file amicus brief in U.S. Supreme Court case on ability to bring First Amendment challenges

CHICAGO — The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and American Library Association (ALA) on Friday joined a broad range of organizations and bookstores in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court (PDF) in a case potentially affecting the right to...

American Library Association president responds to Obama surveillance speech

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Barbara Stripling, president of the American Library Association (ALA), released the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s remarks on the National Security Agency surveillance program: “After months of calling for...

Carolyn Forsman

Freedom to Read Foundation hosts memorial reception for Carolyn Forsman at Midwinter Meeting

CHICAGO — The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) will be hosting a memorial reception for Carolyn Forsman, the librarian and jeweler who passed away shortly before the 2013 Midwinter Meeting. The reception will be from 7 - 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24 in...

Freedom to Read Foundation and ALA file brief in lawsuit challenging Arizona ethnic studies ban

CHICAGO — The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) yesterday joined with the American Library Association and several other library, education and free speech organizations in filing an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Arce v...

John Phillip Immroth

John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award nominations deadline extended

CHICAGO - The John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award honors intellectual freedom fighters in and outside the library profession who have demonstrated remarkable personal courage in resisting censorship. The award consists of $500 and a citation. Individuals...