150 YEARS STRONG

THE OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY BLOG

Discover the people, policies, and pivotal moments that shaped the ALA and the libraries we all rely on. Our anniversary blog is your behind-the-scenes look at the legacy we’re honoring and the future we’re building, with regular stories on how we’re celebrating.

(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

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.”

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