List of presidents of the American Library Association

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a list of presidents of the American Library Association.

Background

The American Library Association (ALA), founded in 1876 and chartered in 1879, is the largest professional organization for librarians in the United States. The headquarters of the American Library Association is in Chicago, Illinois.

Role and responsibilities

Since 1889, the President of the ALA serves a term of one year, and during each election (held every two years), the president's immediate successor is also elected, serving as vice president until the start of their own term. The Vice President appoints members of committees on recommendation of the presidents-elect of the divisions, subject to approval from the Board.

In practice, despite being the legal head of the Association, the President of the ALA is mostly a figurehead, with most of their unique duties revolving around representing/acting as spokesperson for the Association to the public and other organizations, maintaining unity and values in the organization, protecting the executive director from inappropriate interference by members, and presiding at Board and Council Meetings, although they can appoint interim members of committees in the case of a vacancy until a successor is determined. The executive board administers established policies and programs and manages overall affairs of the organization (such as financial and progress reports) while giving policy recommendations to the council, while the executive director (elected at the pleasure of the Board) manages day-to-day operations and the headquarters. The President, Vice President, immediate past President, Treasurer, and executive director are all members of the executive board (along with other members selected by the council for three-year terms), with the President acting as chairperson. The governing body is the council, which determines the policies of the Association, and to which all American Library Association units are responsible. Members of the Board are also ex-officio members of the council, although the executive director cannot vote, and the President can only vote in case of a tie.[1][2]

Table of ALA presidents

More information Image, Name ...
Image Name Term Other ALA posts Other accomplishments
Justin Winsor[3]1876–1885Also served as president July–Oct 1897.President of the American Historical Association, 1887. Director, Boston Public Library; Director Harvard Library.
William Frederick Poole[4]1885–1887President of the American Historical Association, 1888. Librarian, Boston Mercantile Library; Director, Boston Athenaeum; Director, Cincinnati Public Library; Director, Chicago Public Library; Director, Newberry Library.
Charles Ammi Cutter[5]1887–1889Developed the Cutter Expansive Classification system which became the basis for the top categories of the Library of Congress Classification; Director of the Boston Athenaeum,1869-1892.[6]
Frederick Morgan Crunden1889–1890Director St. Louis Public Library, 1877–1909; First president of the Missouri State Library Association.
Melvil Dewey[7]1890 – July 1891Also served as president 1892–1893; Served as treasurer, 1876–1877 and 1880–1881; Served as secretary 1879–1890 and 1897–1898.Developer of the Dewey Decimal System.
Samuel Swett GreenJuly–Nov 1891"Father of reference work."[8]
Klas August LinderfeltOctober 16, 1891 – May 22, 1892Councilor 1883–1891, vice president 1890–1891. Resigned following his arrest for embezzling from the Milwaukee Public Library and the executive board voted Fletcher the new president, retroactive to the beginning of the term. To this day, Linderfelt is absent from official ALA lists of its past presidents.[9][10]First librarian of the Milwaukee Public Library, 1880–1892
William Isaac FletcherMay 22, 1892 – 1892Editor of ALA Index to General Literature.Director, Amherst College library, 1883–1911.
Melvil Dewey1892–1893See above.
Josephus Nelson Larned[11]1893–1894Chair ALA Advisory Committee to select 5,000 volumes for a model library at the World's Columbian ExpositionPresident of the New York Library Association in 1896.
Henry Munson Utley1894–1895Director of the Detroit Public Library 1885–1913.[12]
John Cotton Dana[13]1895–1896Founder of the Newark Museum, 1909. Founder of the Special Libraries Association.
William Howard Brett1896–1897Developed the library school program at Western Reserve University. Dean, 1903.
Justin WinsorJuly–Oct 1897See above.
Rutherford P. HayesOct 1897-Jan 1898Vice-president Hayes (son of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes) assumed the office of Acting President upon the death of Winsor without election by the executive board, despite the fact that it was unclear whether or not the ALA constitution allowed this. His successor, Putnam, was elected president following a special election.[14]
Herbert Putnam[15]Jan.–Aug 1898Also served as president 1903–1904.Librarian of Congress, 1899–1939.
William Coolidge Lane1898–1899Served as ALA secretary and treasurer for fourteen years and as chairman of its publishing board.Director of Harvard University Library,[16] President of the Bibliographical Society of America.
Reuben Gold Thwaites1899–1900President of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1910.
Henry James Carr1900–1901Also served as treasurer, 1886–1893; Served as secretary 1898–1900.Director of Scranton Public Library, 1891–1929.
John Shaw Billings[17]1901–1902First director of the New York Public Library. Modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office.
James Kendall Hosmer1902–1903Director, Minneapolis Public Library, 1892–1904. Author of many history books including The American Civil War.[18]
Herbert Putnam1903–1904See above.
Ernest Cushing Richardson[19]1904–1905Richardson Classification.[20]
Frank Pierce Hill1905–1906Also served as secretary 1891–1895.First director of the Newark Public Library, 1889.
Clement Walker Andrews1906–1907President of the American Library Institute from 1922 to 1924.
Arthur Elmore Bostwick1907–1908Director of Saint Louis Public Library, 1909–1938.
Charles Henry Gould[21]1908–1909Chaired ALA Committee on Interlibrary Loan.[22]First university librarian at McGill University, 1892, President of the Bibliographical Society of America
Nathaniel Dana Carlile Hodges1909–1910Director of the Cincinnati Public Library, 1900–1924. Notable Ohio Librarians Hall of Fame, 1980.
James Ingersoll Wyer1910–1911Also served as secretary, 1902–1909. From 1916 to 1920, chaired Library War Service Committee.Director of the New York State Library, 1908–1938.[23]
Theresa West Elmendorf Theresa West Elmendorf1911–1912American Library Association's first woman president.President of the New York Library Association 1903–1904.
Henry Eduard Legler1912–1913Secretary, Wisconsin Library Commission, 1904–1909. Librarian, Chicago Public Library, 1909–1917. Curator, Wisconsin Historical Society
Edwin Hatfield Anderson1913–1914Also served as treasurer, 1895–1896Director of the New York Public Library, 1909–1934.
Hiller Crowell Wellman1914–1915Librarian for the Springfield (Massachusetts) City Library from 1902- 1948.
Mary Wright Plummer1915–1916Member of the first class taught by Melvil Dewey at the Columbia College School of Library Economy, 1887.
Walter Lewis Brown1916–1917Created the ALA War Service Committee 1917.Director of the Buffalo, NY Public Library, 1906–1931; President of the New York Library Association, 1906.[24]
Thomas Lynch Montgomery1917–1918Founded the Pennsylvania Library Club, 1890.

Established the first branch of the Philadelphia Free Library, 1892.

William Warner Bishop[25]1918–1919Director University of Michigan Library, 1915–1941, reorganized Vatican Library and archives, President of the Bibliographical Society of America
Chalmers Hadley1919–1920Also served as secretary, 1909–1911.Director, Denver Public Library,1911–1924. Director Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 1924–1945.
Alice S. Tyler1920–1921Dean of the School of Library Science at Western Reserve University, 1912–1929
Azariah Smith Root[26]1921–1922Founding member of the ALA College Library Section, 1899. Director, Oberlin College Library, President of the Bibliographical Society of America
George Burwell Utley1922–1923Also served as secretary, 1911–1920.First director of the first tax supported public library in the state of Florida, Jacksonville Public Library, 1905.
Judson Toll Jennings1923–1924Director of the Seattle Public Library, 1907–1942.
Herman H. B. Meyer1924–1925Initiated the Library of Congress services for the blind,President of the Bibliographical Society of America
Charles F. D. Belden1925–1926Director of the Boston Public Library, 1917.[27]
George H. Locke1926–1927Chief Librarian at Toronto Public Library, 1908–1937.
Carl B. Roden1927–1928Also served as treasurer, 1910–1920.Chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library, 1918 to 1950, President of the Bibliographical Society of America
Linda A. Eastman1928–1929Founding member and later president of the Ohio Library Association.
Andrew Keogh1929–1930Librarian at Yale University, President of the Bibliographical Society of America
Adam Strohm1930–1931Pioneer of adding branch libraries[28]Director Detroit Public Library, 1912–1941
Josephine Adams Rathbone1931–1932Director, Pratt Institute Library School.[29]
Harry Miller Lydenberg[30]1932–1933Director of the Board of International Relations of the American Library Association, 1943–1946.Director of New York Public Library, 1934–1941, President of the Bibliographical Society of America.
Gratia A. Countryman1933–1934Director of Minneapolis Public Library, 1904–1936. President of the Minnesota Library Association,1904–1905.
Charles H. Compton1934–1935Library War ServiceDirector, St. Louis Public Library, 1938–1950.
Louis Round Wilson[31]1935–1936Dean, University of Chicago Graduate Library School
Malcolm Glenn Wyer1936–1937Library War ServicePresident, Iowa Library Association, Nebraska Library Association, Colorado Library Association
Harrison Warwick Craver1937–1938Director, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh[32]
Milton James Ferguson1938–1939Appointment of Librarian of Congress Committee 1937-1939President Oklahoma Library Association; State Librarian of California, President, California Library Association, Chief Librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library, President, New York Library Association.
Ralph Munn1939–1940Director, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 1928–1964. Pennsylvania Library Association President, 1930–31
Essae Martha Culver[33]1940–1941First state librarian of Louisiana[34]
Charles Harvey Brown1941–1942Founder, Association of College and Research Libraries[35]Director, Iowa State University Library 1922- 1946
Keyes D. Metcalf[36]1942–1943Director of University Libraries at Harvard- 1937–1955.[37]
Althea H. Warren1943–1944Director of the American Library Association, National Defense Book Campaign.[38]President, California Library Association, 1921; Director of the Los Angeles Public Library, 1933-1947 [39]
Carl Vitz1944–1945Director, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 1946–1955
Ralph A. Ulveling[40]1945–1946Director, Detroit Public Library, 1941–1967. President, Michigan Library Association, 1937–1938.
Mary U. Rothrock[41]1946–1947Supervised the Tennessee Valley Authority libraries from 1934 to 1948; president of the Tennessee Library Association
Paul North Rice1947–1948U.S. Army World War I, Director of the New York University Libraries, Executive Secretary of the Association of Research Libraries
Errett Weir McDiarmid1948–1949University Librarian of the University of Minnesota.
Milton E. Lord1949–1950Director of university libraries and library school University of Iowa. Director of the Boston Public Library.[3]
Clarence R. Graham1950–1951President Southeastern Library Association[42]Director, Louisville Public Library, 1942–1977.
Loleta Dawson Fyan1951–1952Michigan Library Association President, 1934–1935. Michigan State Librarian, 1941–1961
Robert Bingham Downs[43]1952–1953
Flora Belle Ludington[44]1953–1954Chairman of the board on International Relations, 1942–1945Librarian, Mount Holyoke College, 1936–1964
L. Quincy Mumford1954–1955Librarian of Congress, 1954–1974.
John S. Richards1955–1956President, Public Library AssociationDirector, Seattle Public Library
Ralph R. Shaw1956–1957Director of U.S. National Agricultural Library, 1940–1954. Founder of Scarecrow Press.
Lucile M. Morsch1957–1958First Chief of Descriptive Cataloging Division at Library of Congress, 1940. President, District of Columbia Library Association, 1954–1955
Emerson Greenaway 1958–1959 Chair, Intellectual Freedom Committee Director, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Director, Free Library of Philadelphia
Benjamin E. Powell1959–1960University Librarian, Duke University, 1946–1975.
Frances Lander Spain1960–1961Head of Children's Services at the New York Public Library.
Florrinell F. Morton1961–1962Director of the Library School at Louisiana State University, 1944 to 1971
James E. Bryan1962–1963President, Public Library Association, 1959Director, Newark Public Library 1958-1972; President, New Jersey Library Association, 1952–1954
Frederick H. Wagman1963–1964Chair, Special Committee of Five on “Goals for Action,” 1959.[45] Director University of Michigan Library, 1953-1982.
Edwin Castagna1964–1965President of the Nevada Library Association and the California Library AssociationDirector of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Robert G. Vosper1965–1966President, Association of College and Research LibrariesDirector of libraries and professor, University of California, Los Angeles.[46]
Mary V. Gaver1966–1967President, American Association of School Librarians, 1957-1958Professor at Rutgers University Library and Information Science department.
Foster E. Mohrhardt[47]1967–1968President of Association of Research Libraries,1966; Vice President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, 1965–71.[48]Director of the United States National Agricultural Library, 1954–1968
Roger McDonough1968–1969Chair, Federal Relations Committee.[49]First State Librarian for New Jersey.
William S. Dix1969–1970Principal author of the "Freedom to Read" statement.[50][51]Director Princeton University Library[52]
Lillian M. Bradshaw1970–1971
Keith Doms1971–1972President of the Pennsylvania Library AssociationDirector of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh; director of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Katherine Laich1972–1973ALA Council, 1958 and 1963–1968; ALA Executive Board,1964–1968); chair, Committee on Organization, 1961–1964; chair, Activities Committee on New Directions for ALA (ACONDA.)[53] Assistant City Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library; faculty member, University of Southern California, School of Library Science.
Jean E. Lowrie1973–1974President of the American Association of School Librarians,1963-1964; Founder, International Association of School Librarianship- 1971; president, 1971 to 1977 and executive secretary, 1977 to 1996.Professor and director, Western Michigan University, Department of Librarianship.
Edward G. Holley[54]1974–1975ALA Medal of Excellence 1983; Joseph W. Lippincott Award 1987; Academic Research Librarian of the Year 1988 by the Association of College and Research Libraries; Beta Phi Mu Award 1992.Dean and professor UNC School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Allie Beth Martin1975–Apr 1976Author- A Strategy for Public Library Change.[55]Director, Tulsa City-County Library, Oklahoma.
Clara Stanton Jones1976–1977She was the ALA's first African-American president, serving as its acting president from April 11 to July 22, 1976, and then its president from July 22, 1976, to 1977.[56]Director, Detroit Public Library.
Eric Moon[57]1977–1978Editor-in-chief of Library Journal 1958-1968; chief editor of Scarecrow Press 1969-1978.[58]
Russell Shank1978–1979President, Association of College and Research LibrariesDirector of Libraries of the Smithsonian Institution;[59] Chief Librarian at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA)[60]
Thomas J. Galvin1979–1980Executive Director of American Library Association, 1985–1989Director of the library at the State University of New York at Albany and a professor in the school of information science and policy, where he implemented a doctoral program.
Dr. Peggy Sullivan Peggy A. Sullivan1980–1981Executive Director of American Library Association, 1992–1994Library historian,[61] library educator (dean and professor, University of Chicago, Northern Illinois University, Dominican University) library administrator.
Elizabeth W. (Betty) Stone1981–1982Dean at Catholic University of America, School of Library and Information Science.
Carol A. Nemeyer1982–1983Board of Trustees of the Freedom to Read FoundationAssociate librarian for national programs at the Library of Congress, overseeing the creation of, and gaining nationwide support for, The Center for the Book.[62]
Brooke E. Sheldon1983–1984Library administrator and librarian educator (dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin, dean at Texas Women's University);
E. J. Josey[63]1984–1985Founder and first President of the Black Caucus of the American Library AssociationProfessor University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information
Beverly P. Lynch1985–1986Executive director of the Association of College and Research LibrariesDean of the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies and director of UCLA's California Rare Book School; University librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago,1977-1989.[64]
Regina Minudri1986–1987President of the California Library AssociationDirector of the Berkeley Public Library[65]
Margaret E. Chisholm1987–1988ALA Councilor-at-Large; Member of ALA Executive Board. Director, University of Washington, Graduate School of Library and Information Science
F. William Summers1988–1989Chair, ALA Committee on AccrediationDean,Florida State University School of Information
Patricia Wilson Berger1989–1990President, Federal Librarians Round TableSpecial and administrative librarian in key federal institutions including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Richard M. Dougherty1990–1991Association of College and Research Libraries Academic Librarian of the Year (1983),Joseph W. Lippincott AwardDirector of libraries at University of California, Berkeley and the University of Michigan.
Patricia G. Schuman1991–1992Treasurer, 1984–1988. American Library Association Honorary Membershipfounder and President, Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1973–2012
Marilyn L. Miller1992–1993President American Association of School Librarians , 1986–1987.Chair of the Department of Library Science and Information Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Hardy R. Franklin1993–1994Member of ALA Council; Chair of the ALA Nominating CommitteeDirector District of Columbia Public Library
Arthur Curley1994–1995Deputy Director, New York Public Library Research Libraries. Deputy Director, Detroit Public Library. Director, Cuyahoga County Public Library. Director, Montclair Public Library. Director, Palatine Public Library. Director, Avon Public Library.[66]
Betty J. Turock1995–1996American Library Association Honorary MembershipDean and professor, Rutgers School of Communication and Information, Author, Envisioning a Nation Connected : Librarians Define the Public Interest in the Information Superhighway. [67]
Mary R. Somerville1996–1997President of the Association for Library Service to ChildrenDirector of the Miami-Dade Public Library System
Barbara J. Ford1997–1998American Library Association Honorary Membership, 2026; President of the Association of College and Research LibrariesDirector, Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003–2014.
Ann K. Symons1998–1999Also served as treasurer, 1992–1996.
Sarah Ann Long1999–2000
Nancy C. Kranich2000–2001Editor, Libraries & Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty. Chicago: American Library Association, 2001
John W. Berry2001–2002President of the Freedom to Read Foundation; trustee, American Library in Paris
Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman2002–2003President, Library and Information Technology Association
Carla D. Hayden2003–2004Librarian of Congress, 2016–2025
Carol Brey2004–2005
Michael Gorman2005–2006President of the Library and Information Technology Association.Dean of Library Services at the Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno. Author of Our Enduring Values: Librarianship in the 21st Century[68]
Leslie Burger2006–2007Established "Emerging Leaders Program" at the American Library Association.[69] Appointed interim executive director of the American Library Association in 2023.[70]President of the Connecticut Library Association. President of the New Jersey Library Association.
Loriene Roy2007–2008She was the ALA's first Native American president.[71][72]Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information Convener on Indigenous Matters for the International Federation of Library Associations, 2008–2009
James R. Rettig2008–2009President, Reference and User Services Association, ALA Executive BoardDean of Libraries, United States Naval Academy
Camila A. Alire2009–2010She was the ALA's first Hispanic/Latina American president.
Roberta A. Stevens2010–2011
Molly Raphael2011–2012President, Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA), ALA Executive Board, ALA Councilor at LargeDirector of Multnomah County Library (MCL) in Portland, Oregon.[73]
Maureen Sullivan2012–2013
Barbara Stripling2013–2014President of the Freedom to Read Foundation; President of the American Association of School LibrariansSyracuse University Professor and Associate Dean. Director of school library programs in New York City. President of the New York Library Association.
Courtney Young2014–2015
Sari Feldman2015–2016President of the Public Library Association, Chair of the ALA Office of Literacy/Outreach Services Advisory CommitteeExecutive director of Cuyahoga County Public Library,
Julie Todaro2016–2017President, Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007–2008.Dean of Library Services, Austin Community College. President, Texas Library Association, 2000–2001.
James G. Neal
[74]
2017–2018Senior Policy Fellow, American Library Association; Melvil Dewey Medal, Joseph W. Lippincott Award, American Library Association Honorary Membership. Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University; Dean of University Libraries at Indiana University and Dean Johns Hopkins University Library.
Loida Garcia-Febo2018–2019
Wanda Kay Brown2019–2020President, Black Caucus of the American Library Association, 2006–2008.First president from a HBCU (historically black college or university). C. G. O'Kelly Library at Winston-Salem State University.
Julius C. Jefferson Jr.2020–2021President of the Freedom to Read Foundation, 2013–2016.
Patricia "Patty" Wong 2021–2022 She was the ALA's first Asian American president. City librarian of Santa Clara, California.
Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada 2022–2023 ALA's first Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander American president.
Emily Drabinski 2023–2024 ALA councillor-at-large (2017–2020), chair International Relations Committee, board Association of College and Research Libraries.[75] Interim chief librarian at The Graduate Center at City University of New York.[76] Associate Professor at the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies.[77]
Cindy Hohl Cindy Hohl 2024–2025 First SPECTRUM scholar to be ALA President. President of the American Indian Library Association, 2020–2021.
Sam Helmick[78] 2025–2026 American Library Association Executive Board.[79] President, Iowa Library Association
Maria McCauley[80] 2026–2027 President, Public Library Association Director of Libraries, Cambridge Public Library (MA)
Tamika Barnes[81] 2027-2028 ALA Executive Board Associate dean of Perimeter College Library Services at Georgia State University
Close

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI