ALA Logo - Black

News and Updates

Carla Hayden at the 2025 ALA Annual Conference

Thank You, Dr. Hayden!

June 30, 2025

Dr. Carla Hayden spoke on Friday at the American Library Association’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, and librarians, library workers, and book lovers in attendance greeted the former Librarian of Congress with a wave of love, respect, and applause when she took the stage. It was a unforgettable, moving tribute to Dr. Hayden, who was unceremoniously fired from her position leading the Library of Congress by President Trump in May.

banned books map for March 3, 2023

U.S. Book Challenges Update: June 2025 Edition

June 24, 2025

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This report includes news from Florida, Tennessee, and Texas.

Wright Memorial Public Library exterior with garden plaque

Nature’s Best Hope

June 20, 2025

Encouraging an appreciation for our natural surroundings is always in season, and it’s no secret that libraries often provide garden areas, flower beds, and other outdoor areas for patron and community enjoyment and use. Wright Memorial Public Library in Oakwood, Ohio, took that a step further—and was rewarded a grant from ALA as a result.

graphics for How I Library episode 19 with Nick Brooks

‘How I Library’ Episode 19: Nick Brooks

June 13, 2025

In episode 19 of the “How I Library” podcast, show host and I Love Libraries editor Phil Morehart speaks with Nick Brooks. Brooks is the critically acclaimed author of the award-winning young adult (Y.A.) thriller, “Promise Boys,” a filmmaker, and a musician from Washington, D.C. His new book, “Up In Smoke,” is another page-turning Y.A. thriller that follows the events that spiral after a murder is committed during a Black Lives Matter protest. It’s part murder mystery, part call to revolution.

Cropped book cover: Painting of a young Black woman painting rainbow stripes on her face.

Booklist Reader: New & Stellar LGBTQ Reads

June 9, 2025

Looking for your next great read this #PrideMonth? Our friends at Booklist Reader have you covered. From unforgettable queer fiction to timely memoirs and history, this New & Stellar LGBTQ Reads list has it all.

IMLS banner

Court Allows Trump Admin to Proceed with Efforts to Destroy IMLS as Case Continues

June 6, 2025

The library world—and Americans in general—received bad news late today when a federal judge declined to block the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The ruling, issued in ALA v. Sonderling, will allow the administration’s cuts at the independent agency while the case proceeds.

People standing together form the shape of all the continents in the world. Red hearts with books in them dot the map.

Libraries Around the World Rally Around America’s Libraries

June 4, 2025

The international library community is rallying around its peers and colleagues in the United States as they endure challenging times that have seen the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under attack by President Trump and Dr. Carla Hayden fired as the Librarian of Congress.

Beals Memorial Library sensory box

Seeing Beyond the Spectrum

June 2, 2025

Alexis Chanthachack, assistant director of Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon, Massachusetts, knows how difficult it can be to find activities and events—especially in rural areas—that are welcoming to autistic youth. That immediacy led the mother of two sons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder to become the driving force behind the library’s accessibility work—work that led the library to receive a Libraries Transforming Communities Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant from the American Library Association to enhance accessibility for patrons on the autism spectrum.

Show Up for Libraries LOGO

What Does the Institute of Museum and Library Services Do, and How Will Its Elimination Affect You?

March 19, 2025

Some of the many programs that may be affected by the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services include: early literacy development; summer reading programs for kids; high-speed internet access; employment assistance for job seekers; braille and talking books for people with visual impairments; staff training, recruitment, and professional development; preservation, maintenance, and digitization of collections; and so much more.

Lacey Rollins and Lizzie Dufresne, staff at Jessie E. McCully Memorial Library. Photograph courtesy of Sierra Jones and the Jessie E. McCully Memorial Library.

Transforming Access: How Nearly 700 Small and Rural Libraries Are Advancing Accessibility

March 17, 2025

Since 2022, the American Library Association’s Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities initiative has awarded grants to 662 small and rural libraries nationwide. In the latest round of funding, 300 libraries will receive money to enhance accessibility to facilities, services, and programs for people with disabilities. Seventy-three percent of these round-three grantees serve populations of 5,000 people or less.

Lily Walter at Hubbard Public Library

A Lifelong Love of Books and Libraries

March 14, 2025

Hubbard (Ohio) Public Library’s oldest patron, Lily Walter, who celebrates her 105th birthday in May, stopped by the library last month to renew her library card. She told the library she has loved reading and libraries for 101 years—as long as she can remember.

Ashleigh Glickley and Hawthorne Elementary School students brainstorm ideas for the Growing Readers, Growing Leaders program.

Kentucky School Program Grows Readers, Leaders, and Community

March 13, 2025

In Louisville, Kentucky, an elementary school’s path to become a Spanish-immersion magnet school helped create an ALA award-winning program that raised awareness of the Hispanic/Latinx community and fostered the cultural competence and unity of all students by asking: What unites us?

Horror Studies Collection Coordinator Ben Rubin examines "The Blair Witch Project" collection at Hillman Library. Photo: Aimee Obidzinski

‘The Blair Witch Project’ Joins University of Pittsburgh Library’s Horror Studies Collection

March 11, 2025

The University of Pittsburgh Library System’s Horror Studies Collection is a horror-lover’s dream. Amongst the holdings are the George A. Romero Archival Collection, consisting of hundreds of items from the influential “Night of the Living Dead” filmmaker, the literary papers of “Whalefall” and “The Shape of Water” author Daniel Kraus, scripts from filmmakers Wes Craven (“A Nightmare on Elm Street”) and John Carpenter (“Halloween”), and first editions of “Frankenstein,” “Dracula,” and various Edgar Allan Poe works. And now, students and researchers will have access to items from the 1999 found-footage classic, “The Blair Witch Project,” courtesy of the film’s producer.

Jennie Trent Dew Library

Opening Doors

March 4, 2025

In Goldthwaite, a small, but vibrant town of approximately 1,700 people in central Texas, Jennie Trent Dew Library fills many voids in a community that is missing essential nonprofit and civic organizations. This made the library an ideal candidate for ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant, an initiative to assist small and rural libraries in providing greater accessibility of facilities, services, and programs for patrons with disabilities.

banned books map for August 18, 2023

U.S. Book Challenges Update: February 2025 Edition

February 28, 2025

More than 500 books removed from schools in Tennessee. An Oscar-winning actor reacts to her book being banned. These are among the stories in our latest report on book bans and challenges happening across the U.S. and efforts to thwart them.

Load More
Cropped book cover, The Cartoonists Club. Colorful cartoon illustration of four young people, one writing in a notebook, and one jumping for joy

Booklist Reader: Read-alikes for The Cartoonists Club

April 10, 2025

Raina Telgemeier is practically a household name when it comes to kids comics, and Scott McCloud wrote one of the foremost books (Understanding Comics) explaining how comics work. Readers inspired by the duo’s latest collaboration, “The Cartoonists Club,” will appreciate these other titles that teach key elements of cartooning and offer stories of kids creating comics together—and sometimes both at the same time.

U.S. Court House

ALA Sues Trump to Protect Libraries

April 8, 2025

The American Library Association (ALA) is suing to protect libraries. ALA is joining forces with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the largest union representing museum and library workers, to challenge the Trump administration’s gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The lawsuit asks the court to block the dismantling of IMLS as directed by a Trump executive order.

Top 10 Banned Books of 2024 graphic

National Library Week Kicks Off with Release of New Book Censorship Data

April 7, 2025

The American Library Association kicked off National Library Week with the release of new data on book censorship in 2024 and the Top 10 Most Challenged Books List, which includes “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson, “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe, “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison, and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky. The data shows that the majority of book censorship attempts now originate from organized movements.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Keith Richards

‘The Hippest Damn Library in the Country’

April 4, 2025

A library in Connecticut has become one of the most rockin’ places in the United States. Dubbed “the hippest damn library in the country” by Talking Heads drummer Chris Franz and “the coolest damn library, ever” by The Doors drummer John Densmore, Westport Library has embraced rock ‘n’ roll, hip hop, and contemporary music to create vibrant programming.

Show Up for Libraries LOGO

White House Cutting Off Opportunities for Americans with IMLS Staff Cuts, Says ALA President

April 2, 2025

On March 31, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) staff were placed on administrative leave and all grants and contracts were suspended and ultimately likely to be cancelled as a result of President Trump’s executive order requiring IMLS and six other federal agencies to “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” American Library Association president Cindy Hohl pleaded with Congress to act and urged Americans everywhere to speak out against the move.

A sign being held in the air that reads "DEFEND E-RATE. American Library Association"

Library Advocates Show Up for E-Rate 

March 28, 2025

Advocates from the American Library Association and other public interest groups rallied on Capitol Hill in support of E-Rate, a federal program that funds broadband for libraries and schools, as the Supreme Court weighs its constitutionality.

banned books map for May 19, 2023

U.S. Book Challenges Update: March 2025 Edition

March 26, 2025

Texas threatens jail time for school librarians who provide classic literature to students. “The Kite Runner” author speaks out about his book being banned in Minnesota schools. These are among the stories in our latest report on book bans and challenges happening across the U.S. and efforts to thwart them.

Inspiring Future Voters graphic

Books to Build Civic Engagement

March 25, 2025

It’s never too early to learn about the importance and power of elections. Developed by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, the Inspiring Future Voters booklist is a collection of titles that will help young people understand the importance of voting, civic engagement, and making their voices heard.

Load More

join us to support america's libraries.

BECOME A SUPPORTER
ALA Logo White
An initiative of
American Library Association • 225 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1300 • Chicago, IL 60601

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR NEWS AND UPDATES.

SUBSCRIBE NOW
Clarivate

Proud Sponsor of the ALA Public Supporter Program

SUPPORT OUR LIBRARIES
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR NEWS AND UPDATES.

SUBSCRIBE NOW
ALA Logo White
An initiative of

American Library Association • 225 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1300 • Chicago, IL 60601