After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition will be held on June 23-28, 2022, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C. ReadersMagnet will exhibit at booth 1147.
- The oldest library association in the world, the American Library Association (ALA) was founded on October 6, 1876.
- Its head office is currently based in Chicago.
- However, the first national meeting of America’s librarians took place in 1853 in New York City.
- They next gathered in Philadelphia in 1876 – at the same time and city as the Centennial Exposition of 1876.
- The meeting in Philadelphia was attended by 103 librarians – 90 men and 13 women.
- ALA also serves the distinction of being the largest library association in the world, with approximately 64,600 members.
- At the 1911 conference in Pasadena, CA, ALA elected the first woman as president, Mrs. Theresa West Elmendorf.
- When the U.S. entered World War I, ALA became a major participant. It created the Library War Service.
- ALA celebrated its 50th anniversary in Philadelphia in 1926.
- In 1939, ALA adopted the first Library Bill of Rights (LBR), drafted by Forrest Spaulding to fight against censorship.
- ALA celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1951 in Chicago with the theme “The Heritage of the U.S.A. in Times of Crisis”.
- In 1957, the National Book Committee, a joint committee of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, recommended the establishment of a National Library Week.
- The first National Library Week was observed May 16-22, 1958, with the theme “Wake Up and Read.”
- In 1961, ALA took a stand against racial segregation.
- ALA established the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) in 1969 and the Black Caucus of the ALA in 1970.
- ALA celebrated its centennial at the 1976 conference in Chicago.
- ALA approved the “Policy on Library Services to the Poor” in 1990 and formed the Task Force on Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty in 1996.
- In 2022, ALA and other organizations formed a coalition to fight the nationwide wave of book bans and challenges.
- As the world’s largest library-oriented tradeshow averaging 1400 booths, the ALA Annual brings together librarians and library staff, educators, authors, publishers, friends of libraries, trustees, special guests, and exhibitors from all over the country.
- The average total attendance in an ALA Annual is 25,000, which includes paid attendees and guests, exhibitor staff, and ALA staff.
- A typical ALA Annual Conference includes approximately 2,500 separately-scheduled events – programs, meetings, banquets, and other events – over a four-day period.
- ALA Conference Services must provide a block of 8,300-8,500 hotel rooms and an average of 325-350 meeting rooms to meet demands.
- The ALA Annual Conference currently requires an average of 350,000 gross square feet of convention center space (including space for aisles, food service, post office, internet access, etc.).
- ALA needs to identify and hold sites 8-10 years in advance to get the necessary combination of the convention center and hotel space.
- Speakers at the 2022 ALA Annual Conference include actor John Cho, stand-up comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish, author R.L Stine, actor, and producer Channing Tatum, and comic book artist and writer Kevin Eastman.
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