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.

Keynote speaker and author Phoebe Eng signing books

Shared Visions: The National Conference on Asian/Pacific American Librarians

In 2001, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and the Chinese American Librarians Association partnered to host the first and only National Conference on Asian/Pacific American Librarians. The theme, Shared Visions: Heritages, Scholarship, Progress, was chosen “with a sincere commitment to representing the rich diversity of East, South and Southeast Asian and Pacific American ethnicities, cultures and communities.”

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The Wellesley Half-Dozen

Although women had been employed in libraries previously, the six young women hired by Melvil Dewey in 1883 to work at Columbia College library captured the imagination of 20th-century library historians as groundbreaking fore-mothers of female employment and/or the beginnings of low-paid exploitation of women in the library workforce, but never as six young individuals at the beginning of six full lives.

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Washington County Free Library's bookmobile

Books on Wheels

In 1904, the Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, Maryland, outfitted a wagon with bookshelves to serve as a mobile library unit to reach people who could not normally make it to the library. The idea soon spread to other parts of the country.

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1907 postmarked postcard of the Chicago Public Library

Why Chicago? ALA Headquarters, 1909

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.

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oral histories at the ala archive graphic

Oral Histories at the ALA Archives

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.

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Detail from National Climate Action Strategy

How Sustainability Became a Core Value of ALA

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.

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Theresa West Elmendorf. Photo courtesy of the ALA Archive.

Madam President

Before women were allowed to vote in U.S. elections, the American Library Association (ALA) found its leadership in Theresa West Elmendorf. In 1911, more than 30 years after the founding of ALA, Elmendorf was elected the first female president of the Association.

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