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

National library Week poster detail

National Library Week: “For a Better-Read, Better-Informed America”

ALA Archives April 20, 2026

Sponsored by the National Book Committee, Inc., and in cooperation with the American Library Association, the first National Library Week was launched on March 16–22, 1958. Citing a 1957 survey showing that only 17% of Americans polled were reading a book, the inaugural National Library Week slogan was “Wake Up and Read!”

Overhead view of the entrance to Library 21 and the main exhibit space.

Library 21: ALA at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair

Deborah Walters April 17, 2026

The American Library Association predicted the future 62 years ago in Seattle—the future of libraries, that is. They called their premonition “Library 21,” an exhibition at the 1962 World’s Fair.

Music time at the Jarrell Community Library and Resource Center

A Look at ALA’s Historic Support for Small and Rural Libraries

Hannah Arata April 14, 2026

In March 2022, ALA announced a new project in partnership with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries, under ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative, to expand support for hundreds of small and rural libraries across the country.

1907 postmarked postcard of the Chicago Public Library

Why Chicago? ALA Headquarters, 1909

Wayne Wiegand April 9, 2026

Ask most ALA members why the Association’s headquarters is in Chicago, they’re likely to guess “center of the country.” Not so. ALA headquarters is in Chicago because in 1909 a group of Midwest librarians representing the interests of small public libraries outmaneuvered eastern librarians representing large library interests to wrest control of the Association the latter had held since 1876.

oral histories at the ala archive graphic

Oral Histories at the ALA Archives

Cara Bertram April 7, 2026

Alongside written records, photographs, and publications, the American Library Association Archives also holds more than 150 interviews of librarians and library workers. These stories provide context to their lives and careers, how their experiences and education shaped their librarianship, and how certain events shaped their personal and professional lives.

Detail from National Climate Action Strategy

How Sustainability Became a Core Value of ALA

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich April 2, 2026

The adoption of sustainability as a core value shows what’s possible when dedicated ALA members take the time to listen, learn, evolve, and chart a new path forward, strengthening our ability to remain relevant and responsive for another 150 years.