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

Linderfelt

Mr. Linderfelt’s Trouble: ALA’s Lost President, Part One

Cara Bertram July 22, 2026

In 1892, Klas August Linderfelt, the first librarian of Milwaukee Public Library (MLP), was arrested for embezzling $4,000. The arrest came as a shock to the library profession. Not only was Linderfelt the head of MLP, but he was also the president of both the American Library Association and the Wisconsin Library Association. And that’s just the beginning of this wild tale.

dList home page

The Future of Librarians: dLIST, a Story the Commons Keeps

Anita Coleman July 17, 2026

The history of the Digital Library of Information Science and Technology (dList), the library field’s first open access disciplinary repository for Library and Information Science scholarship, shows what happens when a profession’s stated values and its institutional choices diverge at a technological inflection point.

REFORMA members outside of the White House, June 25, 2019.

REFORMA and ALA: 55 Years of History

REFORMA July 8, 2026

ALA maintains partnerships with external organizations through its affiliates program. One of those is REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. For more than 50 years, the two associations have been partners in the goal of providing better library services to Latino communities.

The cover of Books Challenged or Banned in 2001-2002 list by Robert P. Doyle.

For the Cornerstones of Our Communities: ALA and the Freedom to Read

Lisa Varga July 1, 2026

Shortly after ALA was founded, it became clear that libraries needed a voice in government. ALA’s intertwined Public Policy and Advocacy Office and Office for Intellectual Freedom are that presence, ensuring that libraries and library professionals receive the support that allow them to succeed at providing equitable access to information for all.

The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Task Force marching in San Francisco's Pride Parade, June 1997. From the ALA Archives.

Out of the Closet and Onto the Shelves

ALA Archives June 24, 2026

The American Library Association’s (ALA) Rainbow Round Table is a group with a lot of firsts. Formed in 1970 as the Task Force on Gay Liberation, under ALA’s Social Responsibilities Round Table, they were the first profession-based gay organization.

Jessie Carney Smith in 1965, her first year as a university librarian at Fisk University in Nashville.

Blazing Trails: Stories from Pioneering Black Librarians

American Libraries June 18, 2026

In 2018, American Libraries spoke with five leading African-American librarians about their careers, the changes they have witnessed over the decades, and the current issues in librarianship. While no two people have the same story, all five interviewees note inclusivity as an important theme. They discuss libraries as safe havens, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the history and future of the Association, as well as their legacies within the profession.