List of presidents of the American Library Association
Table of ALA presidents

List of presidents of the American Library Association

Section Title: Table of ALA presidents
Table Section Text: None

Image	Name	Years served	Other ALA posts	Other accomplishments

Justin Winsor 2.JPG	Justin Winsor	1876–1885	Also served as president July–Oct. 1897.	President of the American Historical Association, 1887.

-	William Frederick Poole	1885–1887	President of the American Historical Association, 1888.

-	Charles Ammi Cutter	1887–1889	Developed the Cutter Expansive Classification system which became the basis for the top categories of the Library of Congress Classification.

-	Frederick Morgan Crunden	1889–1890	First president of the Missouri State Library Association.

-	Melvil Dewey	1890–July 1891	Also 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 Green	July–Nov. 1891

-	Klas August Linderfelt	October 16, 1891 – May 22, 1892	Councilor 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.	First librarian of the Milwaukee Public Library, 1880-1892

-	William Isaac Fletcher	May 22, 1892 – 1892	Editor of ALA Index to General Literature.

Melvil Dewey	1892–1893	See above.

-	Josephus Nelson Larned	1893–1894

-	Henry Munson Utley	1894–1895

-	John Cotton Dana	1895–1896	Founder of the Newark Museum, 1909.

-	William Howard Brett	1896–1897	Developed the library school program at Western Reserve University. Dean, 1903.

Justin Winsor	July–Oct. 1897	See above.

-	Rutherford P. Hayes	Oct. 1897-Jan. 1898	Vice-President Hayes (son of US 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.

-	Herbert Putnam	Jan.–Aug. 1898	Also served as president 1903–1904.	Librarian of Congress, 1899-1939.

-	William Coolidge Lane	1898–1899	Served as ALA secretary and treasurer for fourteen years and as chairman of its publishing board.

-	Reuben Gold Thwaites	1899–1900	President of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1910.

-	Henry James Carr	1900–1901	Also served as treasurer, 1886-1893; Served as secretary 1898-1900.

-	John Shaw Billings	1901–1902	First director of the New York Public Library.

-	James Kendall Hosmer	1902–1903

Herbert Putnam	1903–1904	See above.

-	Ernest Cushing Richardson	1904–1905

-	Frank Pierce Hill	1905–1906	Also served as secretary 1891-1895.	First director of the Newark Public Library, 1889.

Clement Walker Andrews.tif	Clement Walker Andrews	1906–1907	President of the American Library Institute from 1922-1924.

-	Arthur Elmore Bostwick	1907–1908

Mr. Charles H. Gould in Montreal, Canada.tif	Charles Henry Gould	1908–1909	First university librarian at McGill University, 1892.

Nathaniel Dana Carlile Hodges.tif	Nathaniel Dana Carlile Hodges	1909–1910	Named to notable Ohio Librarians Hall of Fame, 1980.

James Ingersoll Wyer (cropped).tif	James Ingersoll Wyer	1910–1911	Also served as secretary, 1902-1909. From 1916 to 1920, chaired Library War Service Committee.

Theresa Elmendorf (cropped).tif	Theresa West Elmendorf	1911–1912	She was the ALA's first female president.

-	Henry Eduard Legler	1912–1913

-	Edwin Hatfield Anderson	1913–1914	Also served as treasurer, 1895-1896

Hiller Crowell Wellman (cropped).tif	Hiller Crowell Wellman	1914–1915

-	Mary Wright Plummer	1915–1916	Member of the first class taught by Melvil Dewey at the School of Library Economy, 1887.

1916 WalterLBrown AmericanLibraryAssociation.jpeg	Walter Lewis Brown	1916–1917	Created the ALA War Service Committee, 1917.

-	Thomas Lynch Montgomery	1917–1918	Founded the Pennsylvania Library Club, 1890. Established the first branch of the Philadelphia Free Library, 1892.

-	William Warner Bishop	1918–1919

Chalmers Hadley (cropped).tif	Chalmers Hadley	1919-1920	Also served as secretary, 1909-1911.

Alice S. Tyler.tif	Alice S. Tyler	1920-1921

-	Azariah Smith Root	1921-1922	Founding member of the ALA College Library Section, 1899.	Founding member of the Bibliographical Society of America.

-	George Burwell Utley	1922-1923	Also 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 Jennings.tif	Judson Toll Jennings	1923-1924

H. H. B. Meyer.tif	Herman H. B. Meyer	1924-1925	Initiated the Library of Congress services for the blind.

-	Charles F. D. Belden	1925-1926

George Herbert Locke (cropped).tif	George H. Locke	1926-1927

-	Carl B. Roden	1927-1928	Also served as treasurer, 1910-1920.

Linda Eastman (cropped).tif	Linda A. Eastman	1928-1929	Founding member and later president of the Ohio Library Association.

Andrew Keogh (cropped).tif	Andrew Keogh	1929-1930

-	Adam Strohm	1930-1931

-	Josephine Adams Rathbone	1931-1932

-	Harry Miller Lydenberg	1932-1933

-	Gratia A. Countryman	1933-1934

Charles H. Compton	1934-1935

-	Louis Round Wilson	1935-1936

-	Malcolm Glenn Wyer	1936-1937

-	Harrison Warwick Craver	1937-1938

-	Milton James Ferguson	1938-1939

-	Ralph Munn	1939-1940

-	Essae Martha Culver	1940-1941

-	Charles Harvey Brown	1941-1942

-	Keyes D. Metcalf	1942-1943

-	Althea H. Warren	1943-1944

-	Carl Vitz	1944-1945

Ralph A. Ulveling	1945-1946

-	Mary U. Rothrock	1946-1947

Paul North Rice	1947-1948

-	Errett Weir McDiarmid	1948-1949

-	Milton E. Lord	1949-1950

Clarence R. Graham	1950-1951

Loleta Dawson Fyan	1951-1952

-	Robert Bingham Downs	1952-1953

-	Flora Belle Ludington	1953-1954

-	L. Quincy Mumford	1954-1955	Librarian of Congress, 1954-1974.

John S. Richards	1955-1956

-	Ralph R. Shaw	1956-1957

Lucile M. Morsch	1957-1958

-	Emerson Greenaway	1958-1959

-	Benjamin E. Powell	1959-1960

Frances Lander Spain	1960-1961

Florrinell F. Morton	1961-1962

James E. Bryan	1962-1963

Frederick H. Wagman	1963-1964

Edwin Castagna	1964-1965

-	Robert Vosper	1965-1966

Mary V. Gaver	1966-1967

-	Foster E. Mohrhardt	1967-1968

Roger McDonough	1968-1969

William S. Dix	1969-1970

-	Lillian M. Bradshaw	1970-1971

Keith Doms	1971-1972

Katherine Laich	1972-1973

Jean E. Lowrie	1973-1974

Edward G. Holley	1974-1975

-	Allie Beth Martin	1975–Apr. 1976

-	Clara Stanton Jones	1976-1977	She was the ALA's first African-American president, serving as its acting president from April 11 to July 22 in 1976 and then its president from July 22, 1976 to 1977.

Eric Moon	1977-1978

-	Russell Shank	1978-1979

Thomas J. Galvin	1979-1980

Peggy A. Sullivan	1980-1981

Elizabeth W. (Betty) Stone	1981-1982

Carol A. Nemeyer	1982-1983

Brooke E. Sheldon	1983-1984

E. J. Josey	1984-1985

Beverly P. Lynch	1985-1986

Regina Minudri	1986-1987

Margaret E. Chisholm	1987-1988

F. William Summers	1988-1989

Patricia Wilson Berger	1989-1990

Richard M. Dougherty	1990-1991

Patricia G. Schuman	1991-1992	Also served as treasurer, 1984-1988.

Marilyn L. Miller	1992-1993

Hardy R. Franklin	1993-1994

-	Arthur Curley	1994-1995

Betty J. Turock	1995-1996

Mary R. Somerville	1996-1997

Barbara J. Ford	1997-1998

Ann K. Symons	1998-1999	Also served as treasurer, 1992-1996.

Sarah Ann Long	1999–2000

-	Nancy C. Kranich	2000–2001

John W. Berry	2001–2002

Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman	2002–2003

-	Carla D. Hayden	2003–2004	Librarian of Congress (2016-Present)

Carol A. Brey-Casiano	2004–2005

Michael Gorman	2005–2006

-	Leslie Burger	2006–2007

-	Loriene Roy	2007–2008	She was the ALA's first Native American president.

-	James R. Rettig	2008–2009

-	Camila A. Alire	2009-2010

Roberta A. Stevens	2010-2011

Molly Raphael	2011-2012

-	Maureen Sullivan	2012-2013

-	Barbara Stripling	2013-2014

-	Courtney Young	2014-2015

Sari Feldman	2015-2016

Julie Todaro	2016-2017

James G. Neal	2017-2018

-	Loida Garcia-Febo	2018-2019

-	Wanda Kay Brown (President Elect)	2019-2020

Sentence(s)

Neal was elected president of the American Library Association for 2017-2018.

final_sentence: Neal was elected president of the American Library Association for 2017-2018.