Tag: American Library Association

Fighting Censors and Book Bans: Establishing the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

Posted on by Deborah Walters

This blog post is part of a series exploring the important events and people in ALA’s history for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ALA in 2026.

Almost 60 years ago, the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) of the American Library Association needed a partner in the fight for intellectual freedom. The 1960s brought concerns about censorship, freedom of the press, the freedom to read – and the impact on librarians who sought to uphold the values within the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement. The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) was the solution, providing support and education on intellectual freedom to librarians and the public.[1] Little did they know how vital the OIF would become to the fight against book challenges and censorship and to the support of librarianship and the freedom to read everywhere. Continue reading “Fighting Censors and Book Bans: Establishing the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom” →

Librarians, Segregated: The 1936 ALA Annual Conference

Posted on by Deborah Walters

This blog post is part of a series exploring the important events and people in ALA’s history for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ALA in 2026.

The Advance Attendance Register for the Richmond Conference displayed a rendering of the White House of the Confederacy.

Wilson Bulletin editor, Stanley J. Kunitz, called it the “The Spectre at Richmond” – but the racial discrimination at the 1936 ALA Annual Conference was no ghostly apparition.[1] The conference was held in Richmond, Virginia, a city with Jim Crow era racial segregation laws. While the American Library Association itself had no segregation or discriminatory policies, up until 1936 they had not established any ruling against holding a conference in a segregated city where members would be subject to discrimination. Thus, “the Spectre” marched into the halls of the hotels and auditoriums, reminding all librarians present that there was still work to be done. Continue reading “Librarians, Segregated: The 1936 ALA Annual Conference” →

15 Years of Fear: The ALA and the Patriot Act

Posted on by Deborah Walters

This blog post is part of a series exploring the important events and people in ALA’s history for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ALA in 2026.

Folders about the USA PATRIOT Act from the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom Subject File at the ALA Archives.
USA PATRIOT Act files in the Office for Intellectual Freedom Subject File at the ALA Archives.

October 26, 2001, marked the beginning of a 15-year-long struggle for the privacy rights of library users as a result of the USA PATRIOT Act being signed into law by President Bush. The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, colloquially known as the Patriot Act, expanded surveillance and investigation capabilities of law enforcement to combat terrorism after the attack on September 11th.[1] Included in the bill was Section 215, which became known as the “library provision” as it allowed intelligence agencies to “obtain information about members of the public, including library records, based on a minimal submission to a secret court.”[2]

Continue reading “15 Years of Fear: The ALA and the Patriot Act” →

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

Posted on by Deborah Walters

This blog post is part of a series exploring the important events and people in ALA’s history for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ALA in 2026.

Photograph of the entrance to the Library 21 exhibit, showing the bridge into the first circle.
Overhead view of the entrance to Library 21 and the main exhibit space.

The ALA 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. The “automated” library of the future would blend traditional library services with advancements in information technology. Partnered with companies including Remington Rand-UNIVAC, Xerox, RCA, IBM, and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library 21 explored the importance of library services in daily life and how “electronics and information technology will have great impact on the methods we use for storing, retrieving, and communicating knowledge in the libraries of tomorrow.”[1]

The 9,000 square foot exhibit space was the first exhibit on the ground floor of the Washington State Coliseum, which drew large crowds during the Fair’s run from April 21 through October 21, 1962.[2] An estimated 1.8 million people visited Library 21 – almost 20% of the total attendance of the Fair.[3] Designed by Vance Jonson of Los Angeles and constructed by the firm Daniel, Mann, Johnson and Mendenhall, the exhibit structure itself was quite impressive. The futuristic exhibit consisted of two large circles connected to form a figure eight, with stairs from the second circle leading to the colorful Children’s World below. The circles were lit from above and surrounded by reflecting pools. Visitors approached via a bridge into the first circle, which included the UNIVAC computer, the Ready Reference Center, and the adult reading area. The second circle contained the Xerox Theater, Learning Resources Center, and other electronic exhibits. Continue reading “Library 21: ALA at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair” →

Eldon Ray James Oral History

Posted on by Ren Parks

Starting early this fall, as the ALA Archives Graduate Assistant, I had the privilege of transcribing the oral history of Eldon Ray James, retired librarian, formerly incarcerated person, and advocate for the rights of incarcerated people. After transcribing over three hours of dialogue between Ray James and Deputy County Librarian at the Alameda County Library, Deb Sica, I believe I just got paid to listen to the most interesting story I’ve ever heard.

Ray James, before becoming a figurehead in the movement to secure information access for incarcerated people in the United States, served in Germany during the Vietnam War, ran for office in the Colorado House of Representatives, won awards for his amazing journalism in multiple publications, and was reportedly a part of the (unconfirmed) first interracial double date in Baylor University history. He did all of this before being sentenced to 70 months in prison for aiding in the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamines. Continue reading “Eldon Ray James Oral History” →

“Public Library of the High Seas”: ALA and the American Merchant Marine Library Association

Posted on by Sharon Pietryka

The connection between the ALA and the American Merchant Marine Library Association (AMMLA) is a little-known example of collaboration and cooperation between organizations. AMMLA developed out of the World War I Library War Service and ALA’s efforts to provide books and resources to men aboard U. S. vessels. (For more information about the Library War Service, please see our research guide). After the war ended, the library service for American servicemen was turned over to the War and Navy Departments, and the Library War Service Committee hoped that it’s work aboard U.S. ships would be taken over by either shipowners or another organization [1]. Finally, after the request from ALA to form a peace-time library service for this purpose, Alice Sturdevant Howard, Chief of the Social Service Bureau of the Recruiting Service of the United States Shipping Board, organized the American Merchant Marine Library Service in 1921 [2]. To aid the effort, ALA donated the leftover book stock used in the Merchant Marine Service as well as some unexpended funds [3]. Continue reading ““Public Library of the High Seas”: ALA and the American Merchant Marine Library Association” →

Activism and Advocacy in ALA: Women’s Organizations

Posted on by Leanna Barcelona
Found in RS 99/1/13
Theresa West Elmendorf, the first female president of ALA, elected in 1911.

There are several units within the American Library Association that support women in the library profession and as a whole. Many of these groups arose during the second wave of feminism in the 1960s-80s in response to political and social movements outside of the ALA. Women in librarianship wanted the predominately-female profession to be regarded with the same respect and pay scale as other professions as well as more equity in ALA leadership.

One of the first major committees that is still around today is the Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL). This committee came about after several years of advocating by ALA members and the eventual approval at the 1976 Centennial Conference in Chicago.[1] Initially, a proposal was presented during the 1974 Annual Conference[2] and then discussed by Council during the 1975 Midwinter Meeting.[3] The ALA Executive Board endorsed a set of guidelines put forward in 1976, drafted by a standing committee appointed by the ALA president.[4] The committee has a list of seven responsibilities, all of which support the growth of women inside and outside of the field of librarianship. COSWL also sponsors several research projects, publications, and subcommittees related to women in libraries, such as the Advance Women in Library Management, Minority Women Oral History Project, and the COSWL Study. ALA currently maintains a list of resources on the COSWL homepage related to women’s issues.

Continue reading “Activism and Advocacy in ALA: Women’s Organizations” →

Mary Wright Plummer

Posted on by Lydia Tang

To continue our blog series highlighting pioneering women librarians, this next post will focus on Mary Wright Plummer (1856-1916).  A member of Melvil Dewey’s first class in librarianship at Columbia College, Plummer went on to establish an impressive career in librarian education, children’s librarianship, and international librarianship, and served as the ALA’s 2nd female president from 1915-1916.

Born to a Quaker family, Plummer attended Wellesley College from 1881-1882, studying languages and creative writing.  Her librarianship career began when she enrolled at the age of 30 in “the first class in library science on the planet”[1], Melvil Dewey’s 1887 class in the School of Library Economy at Columbia College.  Distinguishing herself immediately in her studies, she was selected to present her experience in library school at the American Library Association’s 1887 meeting (“The Columbia College School of Library Economy from a Student’s Standpoint,” printed in Library Journal, September-December 1887). Continue reading “Mary Wright Plummer” →

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

Posted on by Lydia Tang
National Library Week 1958 letterhead
National Library Week 1958 letterhead

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!”  The National Library Week initiative was the first nationwide effort to promote literacy for personal and national improvement, to celebrate the role of libraries in making reading materials accessible to everyone, and to highlight the varied career opportunities available within the library profession.[1]

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

Faxon’s Traveling Conference Albums

Posted on by Lydia Tang
Faxon cover
1897 Photo Album

This “Traveling” Souvenir is sent to a few friends, and I hope it may give enough pleasure to offset cost of postage. (Preface, 1897 Photo Album)

Faxon1
“To say that Mr. James lost his head would seem no more than the truth if we look at the picture, where he sits back to us in the foreground. He only removed it for a moment however in order to allow Miss Rathbone’s countenance to be seen.” (1897 Photo Album)

As described in an earlier blog post: Frederick Winthrop Faxon (1866-1936) was the early bard of the American Library Association.  Although he was not a librarian, he was memorialized as someone who “for almost forty years,[…] devoted himself to serving librarians and promoting the library idea.”[1] Attending 43 annual conferences throughout his lifetime, Faxon’s humorous reports enliven several years of the American Library Association Papers and Proceedings. Continue reading “Faxon’s Traveling Conference Albums” →