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

(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.”

Jesse Jackson speaking at the Rally for America's Libraries in front of a large crowd

Jesse Jackson and a Legacy of Library Activism

Ian Ware February 26, 2026

Throughout his life of activism and public service, Rev. Jesse Jackson consistently championed libraries as centers of knowledge where individuals and communities can learn about their past, present, and future.

Clara Jones embracing Virginia L. Jones, after V. Jones received an Honorary Membership of ALA during the 1976 ALA Conference.

Clara S. Jones: ‘Awareness is Not Burdened with Repression; It Is Liberating’

Cara Bertram February 23, 2026

During the 1975 American Library Association Annual Conference, Clara Stanton Jones was announced as the vice president and president-elect of the American Library Association. Her term as president would start during ALA’s 1976 Centennial Conference, a fitting celebration for the first African American President of the Association.

Action, Not Reaction: Integrating the Library Profession

Denise Rayman February 19, 2026

In the midst of the Civil Rights era in America, librarians were battling for and against segregated libraries in the South, however they were also battling over integration within their own ranks. Integration of the library profession was a long process that started in the early 20th century.

Henry and Edith Carr

Henry and Edith Carr, ALA’s Golden Couple

Deborah Walters February 12, 2026

With Valentine’s Day approaching, we remember possibly the most famous ALA couple of all time, Henry and Edith Wallbridge Carr. Married for 43 years and active in ALA for even longer, the Carrs were well-known within the library community of the late 19th and early 20th century. Where did their romance begin? At an ALA conference, of course!