150 YEARS STRONG

Call for Proposals: Shape ALA’s 150th Anniversary Conference

Promotional image for the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, showing several attendees at a discussion table. Text invites submissions for program and poster proposals, with a deadline of September 22. The conference dates are June 25-29, 2026, celebrating 150 years of the American Library Association.

The ALA 2026 Annual Conference & Exhibition, June 25–29, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois will be a milestone event marking ALA’s 150th Anniversary. The Annual Conference explores key challenges and opportunities facing libraries, with professional development rooted in timely research, innovation, and best practices. For the 2026 conference, programming will include a broad variety of perspectives that celebrate, commemorate, or educate about the impact that ALA and our affiliate partners have made on the profession and on libraries nationally and internationally over the last 150 years – or will make in the next 150 years. An ALA 150th tag will be used to designate programs that fall into this content category.

Opportunities to contribute to Annual programming include proposing education programs or posters, organizing preconferences, in partnership with an ALA office or division, coordinating President/Chair programs, and more. ALA accepts a wide variety of program, meeting and event submissions for Annual Conference.

We invite member groups to discuss opportunities to engage around the 150th anniversary and consider submitting ideas to enhance our programming. There are two engagement opportunities currently open: education programs and posters.

Education programs are 60 minutes in length, which may include 10-15 minutes of Q & A. There are nine proposal juries to choose from when submitting a proposal: one of ALA’s eight Divisions or the ALA jury (which includes representation from Round Tables, Offices, and Affiliates).

Poster sessions include six poster categories, and poster presenters share their posters as part of a 90-minute session.

Visit the ALA 2026 Annual Conference website for more information, including submission guides and links to the submission sites.

Both submission sites will close on Monday, September 22 at 11:59PM Eastern.

Be on the lookout in November for other ways to participate, including Meetings and Events, Ticketed Events (includes preconferences and tours), President/Chair Programs, and Now Showing films.

150 YEARS STRONG

THE OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY BLOG

Stationary used by George Nason with “Association” blotted out. From the ALA Archives,

The Curious Case of the Two American Library Associations

Cara Bertram November 5, 2026

In 1899, the American Library Association was notified that a small commercial traveling library was operating under the name “The American Library Association” under the tutelage of “a person of questionable character and unsavory reputation.” Thus began the curious case of the two American Library Associations.

The exterior of the McCormick Mansion. An inconvenient office space or a mansion overrun by ghosts? From the ALA Archives.

Was ALA’s McCormick Mansion Haunted?

Cara Bertram October 27, 2026

Halloween is approaching and during this spooky season, the ALA Archives has been meditating upon one of ALA’s old headquarters, the McCormick Mansion. Why would ALA want to move out of the McCormick Mansion so quickly and destroy it? Was it because the mansion was … haunted?

USA PATRIOT Act files in the Office for Intellectual Freedom Subject File at the ALA Archives.

15 Years of Fear: ALA and the Patriot Act

ALA Archives October 23, 2026

October 26, 2001, marked the beginning of a 15-year-long struggle for the privacy rights of library users as a result of the USA PATRIOT Act being signed into law by President Bush. Prompted by the possibility of government agents ordering libraries to turn over patron information, ALA’s Washington Office created the “Guidelines for Librarians on the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act: What to do before, during and after a ‘knock at the door?’” which provided guidance on consulting legal counsel and reviewing policies.

A group of foreign delegates in Atlantic City during the ALA Fiftieth Anniversary Conference, October 1926.

Librarians Go on a Road Trip! The 1926 Foreign Delegate Post-Conference Excursion

ALA Archives October 15, 2026

In early October 1926, almost 60 librarians from 25 countries gathered in Atlantic City and Philadelphia to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Library Association along with more than 2,000 American librarians. By all accounts, the conference was a great success. But the best part of this all-expenses-paid trip to the U.S. didn’t happen during the actual meeting: When the conference ended, about 30 international delegates went on a multi-state excursion, visiting 12 cities in the span of two weeks.

How I Library podcast with Betty Turock

Celebrating ALA’s Birthday in Conversation with Dr. Betty Turock

Phil Morehart October 6, 2026

In a special episode of the “How I Library” podcast commemorating the 150th anniversary of the American Library Association, show host and I Love Libraries editor Phil Morehart speaks with one of the key figures in the history of the Association and librarianship, Dr. Betty Turock.