American Library Association

Richard Rogers Bowker

Attendees came from as far west as Chicago and from England. Another important founder was Frederick Leypoldt, publisher of Library Journal, who published the conference proceedings.

In 1879, the ALA was chartered in Massachusetts. From 1876 until 1885, Justin Winsor served as the first president of the ALA. Many early presidents were also officers in the Bibliographical Society of America.

20th century

During World War I the ALA Executive Board initiated by Walter Lewis Brown established the Library War Service Committee to supply books and periodicals to military personnel at home and overseas. The American Library in Paris was founded as part of this effort.

In the 1930s, library activists pressured the American Library Association to be more responsive to issues such as peace, segregation, library unions, and intellectual freedom. In 1931, the Junior Members Round Table (JMRT) was formed to provide a voice for the younger members of the ALA.

The first Library Bill of Rights (LBR) was drafted by Forrest Spaulding to set a standard against censorship and was adopted by the ALA in 1939. This has been recognized as the moment defining modern librarianship as a profession committed to intellectual freedom and the right to read.

ALA appointed a committee to study censorship and recommend policy after the banning of the novel The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County, California and the implementation of the Library Bill of Rights. The committee reported in 1940 that intellectual freedom and professionalism were linked and recommended a permanent committee – Committee on Intellectual Freedom. The ALA made revisions to strengthen the Library Bill of Rights in June 1948, approved the Statement on Labeling in 1951 to discourage labeling material as subversive, and adopted the Freedom to Read Statement and the Overseas Library Statement in 1953. The ALA has worked throughout its history to define, extend, protect and advocate for equity of access to information.

In 1945, the ALA established an Office in Washington, D.C. named the National Relations Office under the direction of Paul Howard.

In 1961, the ALA took a stand regarding service to African Americans and others, advocating for equal library service for all. An amendment to the Library Bill of Rights was passed in 1961 that made clear that an individual's library use should not be denied or abridged because of race, religion, national origin, or political views. Some communities decided to close their doors rather than desegregate. In 1963, the ALA commissioned a study, Access to Public Libraries, which found direct and indirect discrimination in American libraries.

In 1967, some librarians protested against a pro-Vietnam War speech given by General Maxwell D. Taylor at the annual ALA conference in San Francisco; the former president of Sarah Lawrence College, Harold Taylor, spoke to the Middle-Atlantic Regional Library Conference about socially responsible professionalism; and less than one year later a group of librarians proposed that the ALA schedule a new round table program discussion on the social responsibilities of librarians at its annual conference in Kansas City. This group called themselves the Organizing Committee for the ALA Round Table on Social Responsibilities of Libraries. This group drew in many other under-represented groups in the ALA who lacked power, including the Congress for Change in 1969. This formation of the committee was approved in 1969 and would change its name to the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) in 1971. After its inception, the Round Table of Social Responsibilities began to press ALA leadership to address issues such as library unions, working conditions, wages, and intellectual freedom.

The Freedom to Read Foundation was founded by Judith Krug, Alexander Allain, and Carrie C Robinson and established by ALA's executive board in 1969.

Centennial

The American Library Association celebrated its centennial in 1976. In commemoration the association published Libraries and the Life of the Mind in America.

The American Library Association Archives, established at the time of the centennial, created an online exhibit which includes a history of the centennial. Clara Stanton Jones, president, Inaugural address was titled, "The First Step into ALA's Second Century."

1976–2000

In 1979 and 1991 the ALA collaborated with the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science on two White House Conferences.

In 1983 in response to the National Commission on Excellence in Education Report, A Nation at Risk, leaders in library and information science launched the project, "Libraries and the Learning Society." Librarians examined how public libraries, academic libraries, library and information science training institutions, and school library media centers could best respond to A Nation at Risk.

In June 1990, the ALA approved "Policy on Library Services to the Poor" and in 1996 the Task Force on Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty was formed to resurrect and promote the ALA guidelines on library services to the poor.

The Office for Information Technology Policy was established in 1995 to act as a public policy advocate for libraries in the area

of information technology.

The "Congress on Professional Education" took place from April 30 to May 1, 1999, in Washington, D.C. Its purpose was to reach consensus among stakeholder groups on the values and core competencies of the profession and on strategies for action to address common issues and concerns.

21st century

At the beginning of the century The Congress on Professional Education recommended that the Association develop a set of Core Values.

In 2018, the ALA Council unanimously adopted a resolution acknowledging ALA's accountability for not participating in the fight against library segregation during the era of Jim Crow laws and honoring African American librarians who did fight, including Clara Stanton Jones, E. J. Josey, Albert P. Marshall, and Virginia Lacy. The day it was signed, ALA President Jim Neal read the resolution at an event where Joan Mattison Daniel of the Greenville Eight, Ethel Adolphe, Ibrahim Mumin, and Teri Moncure Mojgani shared their experiences participating in library protests and sit-ins during the 1960s. Two years later, ALA expanded its accountability to include the organization's history of "upholding unjust systems of racism and discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) within the association and the profession" and further resolved "to build a more equitable association" moving forward.

In 2023 the Public Library Association of ALA published the Public Library Services for Strong Communities Report addressing the myriad ways libraries nationwide serve and sustain their

communities.

That same year, the Montana State Library Commission withdrew from the ALA, citing comments made by Emily Drabinski, who self-identified as a "Marxist lesbian".

The Digital Public Library Ecosystem was published by ALA in 2023. It is a comprehensive overview of the current state and operations of the relationships and roles of stakeholders including authors,

agents, publishers, distributors, the library community, governments, and trade organizations.

In 2024, in response to proposed Georgia legislation that would prohibit public expenditures on the ALA, the ALA responded that the legislation "is based on false narratives", and the ALA "does not promote any 'ideology'".

Also in 2024, Association received the Toni Morrison Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle.

Also in 2024, the Library History Round Table published the "Bibliography of Library History" database containing over 7,000 entries for books, articles, and theses in library history and related fields published from 1990 to 2022.

Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained was published in 2024.

In 2026 the 150th anniversary of the association was celebrated.

On August 31, 2026 the Young Adult Library Services Association was dissolved. It was reunified with the Association for Library Service to Children on September 1, 2026.

Archives

The ALA Archives, including historical documents, non-current records, and digital records, are held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign archives. The establishment of the archives and the roles of David Horace Clift, Robert Wedgeworth, Beta Phi Mu, and the Library History Round Table has been documented by the first archivist, Maynard Britchford.

Additionally, the American Library Association Institutional Repository (ALAIR) provides digital access to the publications and intellectual work of the Association.

1970s

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attempted to use librarians as possible informants in the conspiracy case of the Harrisburg Seven in 1971. The Harrisburg Seven, a group of religious anti-war activists, were primarily accused of conspiring to kidnap National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. The supposed leader of the group, Philip Berrigan, was serving time at the Lewisburg penitentiary. The FBI sought "to use library surveillance and librarian informants" at Bucknell University as evidence of the Harrisburg Seven's "characters and intentions." Boyd Douglas became one such informant for the FBI: he was a prisoner at the same penitentiary with a work-release position at the library. Boyd presented himself as an anti-war activist and offered to smuggle letters he collected while at work to Philip Berrigan at the prison.

The FBI also attempted to use Zoia Horn, a librarian at the Bucknell library, and interviewed other library workers. The FBI met with Horn in her home to debrief her, but Horn refused to answer their questions. She refused to testify, even after she was given immunity from self-incrimination. Horn stated, "To me it stands on: Freedom of thought" and for the government to practice "spying in homes, in libraries and universities inhibits and destroys this freedom." Zoia Horn was charged with contempt of the court and served 20 days in jail. She was "the first librarian who spent time in jail for a value of our profession" according to Judith Krug of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. Horn continued to fight for intellectual freedom in libraries and beyond. The Intellectual Freedom Committee of the California Library Association now awards the Zoia Horn Intellectual Freedom Award in honor of those who make contributions to intellectual freedom.

In the 1970s, United States Department of the Treasury agents also pressured public libraries across the country to "release circulation records recording the names and identifying information of people who checked out books on bomb making." The ALA believed this to be an "unconscionable and unconstitutional invasion of library patrons' privacy."

As a result of these two situations and many others, the ALA affirmed the confidential status of all records which held patron names in a Policy on the Confidentiality of Library Records. The ALA also released the ALA Statement on Professional Ethics in 1975 which advocated for the protection of the "confidential relationship" between a library user and a library.

1980s

The FBI tried to use surveillance in library settings as part of its Library Awareness Program of the 1980s; it aimed to use librarians "as partners in surveillance." The program was known to the FBI as "The Development of Counterintelligence Among Librarians," indicating that the FBI believed that librarians might be supportive in its counterintelligence investigations. The FBI attempted to profile "Russian or Slavic-sounding last names" of library patrons to look for possible "national security threats." The FBI wanted libraries to help it trace "the reading habits of patrons with those names."

The ALA responded by writing to the FBI director. The Intellectual Freedom Committee also created "an advisory statement to warn libraries" of the Library Awareness Program, including ways to help librarians "avoid breaking their ethical obligations if faced with FBI surveillance."

Accredited programs in library and information studies

ALA-accredited programs can be found at schools in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. These programs offer degrees with names such as Master of Library Science, Master of Arts, Master of Librarianship, Master of Library and Information Studies, and Master of Science. To be accredited, the program must undergo an external review and meet the Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Studies.