150 YEARS STRONG

ALA Wants to Hear from You During Its 150th Anniversary

The American Library Association (ALA) is seeking website and podcast contributions from ALA members as it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2026.

We want stories from members that reflect their experiences with ALA, its legacy, and its history to be featured here at ala150.org and for an ALA oral-history audio series that will be broadcast on ALA’s How I Library podcast. These should be stories about the people, policies, and pivotal moments that shaped the Association, its core values (Access, Equity, Intellectual Freedom and Privacy, Public Good, Sustainability), and our country’s libraries.

These can be personal memories and/or researched stories that reflect the following themes:

    • Pivotal people and moments in ALA history—past, present, or future
    • Policy and impact: What has changed for libraries or communities
    • Member milestones: How ALA shaped your work and vice versa
    • Lessons learned: A reckoning with constructive next steps for ALA and its future

Or perhaps you’d like to share something but aren’t quite sure where to begin. Consider these prompts to kickstart some ideas about your time at ALA and/or ALA’s past, present, and future.

    • What happened? Why did it matter? What changed?
    • Who was affected and how do we know?
    • What should future ALA members remember or do differently?
Share your chapter in ALA's 150-year history. Pictured

You’ve got your idea. Great! Now what?

Please email a brief story pitch (approximately one paragraph in length) detailing your idea, whether its for ala150.org or the podcast, sources (if applicable), and any other pertinent information to Phil Morehart (pmorehart@ala.org) at the American Library Association.

Will you acknowledge receiving my story idea?

Story ideas will be acknowledged upon receipt.

When will I hear if my idea is accepted?

Confirmation or rejection of story idea and next steps, if applicable, will follow in 1-2 weeks.

What is the website and podcast’s style? What are you looking for in regards to tone?

Informal, but informative. Your stories must be inviting, engaging, and readable/listenable, with all statements backed by responsible research, if applicable. The Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.) supplemented by specific ALA style will be used in editing articles for publication on the website.

How much editing should I expect?

On accepted website stories, ALA will retain the right to make editorial revisions, deletions, or additions that in their opinion support the article’s focus. Editors will make every possible effort to review copy with the author prior to publication, especially regarding any proposed substantive changes.

For the podcast, How I Library producer/host Phil Morehart will work with submitters to craft an engaging audio segment.

How long should my ala150 story be?

Stories should be 600–1,500 words in length and will be published on the website’s blog during the course of ALA’s 150th celebration year.

Would you like images to accompany the story?

Yes! If possible, please submit large photos and/or artwork (at 72 dpi) to accompany each story.

Thanks! We look forward to hearing from you!

150 YEARS STRONG

THE OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY BLOG

Librarian Mollie Huston Lee

Librarians We Have Lost

Kathleen de la Peña McCook March 12, 2026

“Librarians We Have Lost Initiative (1976–2026): A Sesquicentennial Memorial Project” is a crowd-sourced initiative developed to honor the memory, service, and professional contributions of librarians, educators, and library workers over the past 50 years.

The conference program for the ALA Annual Conference at Lakewood, New Jersey, Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D. C., in 1892.

Library History and Women’s History: An Ongoing Convergence

American Libraries March 9, 2026

The Woman’s Building Library at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition achieved a milestone and was an impressive harbinger for the intersection of librarianship, women’s history, community service, public policy, and international relations. And it was only the beginning.

ALA Members participating in a 1980 Equal Rights Amendment march in Chicago

ALA’s Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship

Lauren Quinlan March 5, 2026

The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great societal change in the U.S., and especially so for women. The rebirth of feminism led to a greater desire to invest in a thorough examination of women and their erasure within the historical canon. These ideals spread to librarianship and ALA, where the Feminist Task Force was established in 1970, Women Library Workers in 1975, and the creation of the ALA Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship in 1976.

(Left to right) Teri Moncure Mojgani, Joan Mattison Daniel, Ethel Adolphe, Shirley Wiegand, Ibrahim Mumin, and Wayne Wiegand at the panel discussion on “Hidden Figures in American Library History: The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South,” New Orleans Public Library, June 24, 2018.

Desegregating Public Libraries: The Untold Stories of Civil Rights Heroes in the Jim Crow South

George Eberhart March 2, 2026

On Sunday, June 24, 2018, the governing Council of American Library Association passed a historic resolution that “apologizes to African Americans for wrongs committed against them in segregated public libraries” and commends those “who risked their lives to integrate public libraries for their bravery and courage in challenging segregation in public libraries and in forcing public libraries to live up to the rhetoric of their ideals.”