What is the ALA?
The ALA Mission: Empowering and advocating for libraries and library workers to ensure equitable access to information for all.
History of the ALA
During the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, 103 librarians (90 men and 13 women) responded to a call for a "Convention of Librarians" to be held October 4-6 at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The aim of the Association, in that resolution, was "to enable librarians to do their present work more easily and at less expense." Attendees came from as far west as Chicago and from England.
According to Ed Holley in his essay "ALA at 100," at the end of the meeting "the register was passed around for all to sign who wished to become charter members," making October 6, 1876 the birthday of the American Library Association.
Among those in attendance at the meeting were Justin Winsor (Boston Public, Harvard), William Frederick Poole (Chicago Public, Newberry), Charles Ammi Cutter (Boston Athenaeum), Melvil Dewey (Amherst), and Richard Rogers Bowker (Publisher's Weekly).
Values of the ALA
The American Library Association Council has five Core Values that focus on access, equity, intellectual freedom and privacy, the public good, and sustainability.
How to join the ALA
https://www.ala.org/membership/student-member-center
What is a student chapter
The first ALA Student Chapter was created in 1980 at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Now numbering over 60, each Student Chapter has their own character and purpose. ALA Student Chapters enhance students’ ALA membership by providing leadership and programming opportunities on the campuses.
https://www.ala.org/aboutala/affiliates/chapters/student/studentchapters1
Current Leadership
Sam Helmick (they/them) is the 2025-2026 ALA President. Helmick served as a member on the ALA Executive Board and a past president of the Iowa Library Association. They previously served as former chair-elect on the Intellectual Freedom Round Table and chair of the Iowa Governor’s Commission of Libraries. They have served on committees for the Network of the National Library of Medicine, the Stonewall Book Awards, the ALA Policy Monitoring Committee, Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Michael L. Printz Committee, the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Sophie Brody Award Committee and the YALSA Fundraising Task Force. Helmick is a 2016 Emerging Leader, as well as an author, consultant, and instructor for social media marketing and graphic design.
Helmick holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Services from Iowa Wesleyan University and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois.