# List of presidents of the American Library Association

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.

## Table of ALA presidents

| Image | Name | Term | Other ALA posts | Other accomplishments |
| | Justin Winsor | 1876–1885 | Also served as president July–Oct. 1897. | President of the American Historical Association, 1887. Director, Boston Public Library; Director Harvard Library. |
| | William Frederick Poole | 1885–1887 | | President 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 | 1887–1889 | | Developed 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. |
| | Frederick Morgan Crunden | 1889–1890 | | Director St. Louis Public Library, 1877-1909; 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 | | "Father of reference work." |
| | 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. To this day, Linderfelt is absent from official ALA lists of its past presidents. | First librarian of the Milwaukee Public Library, 1880–1892 |
| | William Isaac Fletcher | May 22, 1892 – 1892 | Editor of ALA Index to General Literature. | Director, Amherst College library, 1883-1911. |
| | Melvil Dewey | 1892–1893 | See above. | |
| | Josephus Nelson Larned | 1893–1894 | Chair ALA Advisory Committee to select 5,000 volumes for a model library at the World's Columbian Exposition | President of the New York Library Association in 1896. |
| | Henry Munson Utley | 1894–1895 | | Director of the Detroit Public Library 1885-1913. |
| | John Cotton Dana | 1895–1896 | | Founder of the Newark Museum, 1909. Founder of the Special Libraries Association. |
| | 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 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. | |
| | 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. | Director of Harvard University Library, President of the Bibliographical Society of America. |
| | 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. | Director of Scranton Public Library, 1891-1929. |
| | John Shaw Billings | 1901–1902 | | First director of the New York Public Library. Modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office. |
| | James Kendall Hosmer | 1902–1903 | | Director, Minneapolis Public Library, 1892–1904. Author of many history books including The American Civil War. |
| | Herbert Putnam | 1903–1904 | See above. | |
| | Ernest Cushing Richardson | 1904–1905 | | Richardson Classification. |
| | Frank Pierce Hill | 1905–1906 | Also served as secretary 1891–1895. | First director of the Newark Public Library, 1889. |
| | Clement Walker Andrews | 1906–1907 | | President of the American Library Institute from 1922 to 1924. |
| | Arthur Elmore Bostwick | 1907–1908 | | Director of Saint Louis Public Library, 1909-1938. |
| | Charles Henry Gould | 1908–1909 | Chaired ALA Committee on Interlibrary Loan. | First university librarian at McGill University, 1892, President of the Bibliographical Society of America |
| | Nathaniel Dana Carlile Hodges | 1909–1910 | | Director of the Cincinnati Public Library, 1900-1924.Notable Ohio Librarians Hall of Fame, 1980. |
| | James Ingersoll Wyer | 1910–1911 | Also served as secretary, 1902–1909. From 1916 to 1920, chaired Library War Service Committee. | Director of the New York State Library, 1908-1938. |
| | Theresa West Elmendorf | 1911–1912 | American Library Association's first woman president. | President of the New York Library Association 1903–1904. |
| | Henry Eduard Legler | 1912–1913 | | Secretary, Wisconsin Library Commission, 1904-1909. Librarian, Chicago Public Library, 1909-1917. Curator, Wisconsin Historical Society |
| | Edwin Hatfield Anderson | 1913–1914 | Also served as treasurer, 1895–1896 | Director of the New York Public Library, 1909–1934. |
| | Hiller Crowell Wellman | 1914–1915 | | Librarian for the Springfield (Massachusetts) City Library from 1902- 1948. |
| | Mary Wright Plummer | 1915–1916 | | Member of the first class taught by Melvil Dewey at the School of Library Economy, 1887. |
| | Walter Lewis Brown | 1916–1917 | Created the ALA War Service Committee 1917. | Director of the Buffalo, NY Public Library, 1906-1931; President of the New York Library Association, 1906. |
| | 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 | | Director University of Michigan Library, 1915-1941, reorganized Vatican Library and archives, President of the Bibliographical Society of America |
| | Chalmers Hadley | 1919–1920 | Also served as secretary, 1909–1911. | Director, Denver Public Library,1911–1924. Director Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 1924–1945. |
| | Alice S. Tyler | 1920–1921 | | Dean of the School of Library Science at Western Reserve University, 1912–1929 |
| | Azariah Smith Root | 1921–1922 | Founding member of the ALA College Library Section, 1899. | Director, Oberlin College Library, President 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 | 1923–1924 | | Director of the Seattle Public Library, 1907-1942. |
| | Herman H. B. Meyer | 1924–1925 | | Initiated the Library of Congress services for the blind,President of the Bibliographical Society of America |
| | Charles F. D. Belden | 1925–1926 | | Director of the Boston Public Library, 1917. |
| | George H. Locke | 1926–1927 | | Chief Librarian at Toronto Public Library, 1908–1937. |
| | Carl B. Roden | 1927–1928 | Also served as treasurer, 1910–1920. | Chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library, 1918 to 1950, President of the Bibliographical Society of America |
| | Linda A. Eastman | 1928–1929 | | Founding member and later president of the Ohio Library Association. |
| | Andrew Keogh | 1929–1930 | | Librarian at Yale University, President of the Bibliographical Society of America |
| | Adam Strohm | 1930–1931 | | Director Detroit Public Library, 1912–1941 |
| | Josephine Adams Rathbone | 1931–1932 | | Director, Pratt Institute Library School. |
| | Harry Miller Lydenberg | 1932–1933 | Director 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. Countryman | 1933–1934 | | Director of Minneapolis Public Library, 1904–1936. President of the Minnesota Library Association,1904–1905. |
| | Charles H. Compton | 1934–1935 | Library War Service | Director, St. Louis Public Library, 1938–1950. |
| | Louis Round Wilson | 1935–1936 | | Dean, University of Chicago Graduate Library School |
| | Malcolm Glenn Wyer | 1936–1937 | Library War Service | President, Iowa Library Association, Nebraska Library Association, Colorado Library Association |
| | Harrison Warwick Craver | 1937–1938 | | Director, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh |
| | Milton James Ferguson | 1938–1939 | Appointment of Librarian of Congress Committee 1937-1939 | President Oklahoma Library Association; State Librarian of California, President, California Library Association,Chief Librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library, President, New York Library Association. |
| | Ralph Munn | 1939–1940 | | Director, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 1928–1964. Pennsylvania Library Association President, 1930–31 |
| | Essae Martha Culver | 1940–1941 | | First state librarian of Louisiana |
| | Charles Harvey Brown | 1941–1942 | Founder, Association of College and Research Libraries | Director, Iowa State University Library 1922- 1946 |
| | Keyes D. Metcalf | 1942–1943 | | |
| | Althea H. Warren | 1943–1944 | Director of the American Library Association, National Defense Book Campaign. | President, California Library Association, 1921; Director of the Los Angeles Public Library, 1933-1947 |
| | Carl Vitz | 1944–1945 | | Director, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 1946–1955 |
| | Ralph A. Ulveling | 1945–1946 | | Director, Detroit Public Library, 1941–1967. President, Michigan Library Association, 1937–1938. |
| | Mary U. Rothrock | 1946–1947 | | Supervised the Tennessee Valley Authority libraries from 1934 to 1948; president of the Tennessee Library Association |
| | Paul North Rice | 1947–1948 | | U.S. Army World War I, Director of the New York University Libraries, Executive Secretary of the Association of Research Libraries |
| | Errett Weir McDiarmid | 1948–1949 | | University Librarian of the University of Minnesota. |
| | Milton E. Lord | 1949–1950 | | |
| | Clarence R. Graham | 1950–1951 | | Director, Louisville Public Library, 1942-1977. |
| | Loleta Dawson Fyan | 1951–1952 | | Michigan Library Association President, 1934–1935. Michigan State Librarian, 1941–1961 |
| | Robert Bingham Downs | 1952–1953 | | |
| | Flora Belle Ludington | 1953–1954 | Chairman of the board on International Relations, 1942–1945 | Librarian, Mount Holyoke College, 1936–1964 |
| | L. Quincy Mumford | 1954–1955 | | Librarian of Congress, 1954–1974. |
| | John S. Richards | 1955–1956 | President, Public Library Association | Director, Seattle Public Library |
| | Ralph R. Shaw | 1956–1957 | | Director of U.S. National Agricultural Library, 1940–1954. Founder of Scarecrow Press. |
| | Lucile M. Morsch | 1957–1958 | | First 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. Powell | 1959–1960 | | University Librarian, Duke University, 1946–1975. |
| | Frances Lander Spain | 1960–1961 | | Head of Children's Services at the New York Public Library. |
| | Florrinell F. Morton | 1961–1962 | | Director of the Library School at Louisiana State University, 1944 to 1971 |
| | James E. Bryan | 1962–1963 | | President, New Jersey Library Association, 1952–1954 |
| | Frederick H. Wagman | 1963–1964 | | |
| | Edwin Castagna | 1964–1965 | | |
| | Robert Vosper | 1965–1966 | | Director of Libraries of University of Kansas, 1952-1961 |
| | Mary V. Gaver | 1966–1967 | | |
| | Foster E. Mohrhardt | 1967–1968 | | Director of the United States National Agricultural Library, 1954–1968 |
| | Roger McDonough | 1968–1969 | | First State Librarian for New Jersey. |
| | William S. Dix | 1969–1970 | | |
| | Lillian M. Bradshaw | 1970–1971 | | |
| | Keith Doms | 1971–1972 | | |
| | Katherine Laich | 1972–1973 | | Librarian, University of Southern California |
| | Jean E. Lowrie | 1973–1974 | | |
| | Edward G. Holley | 1974–1975 | | |
| | Allie Beth Martin | 1975–Apr. 1976 | Author- A Strategy for Public Library Change. | Director, Tulsa City-County Library, Oklahoma. |
| | 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. | Director, Detroit Public Library. |
| | Eric Moon | 1977–1978 | | |
| | Russell Shank | 1978–1979 | President, Association of College and Research Libraries | Director of Libraries of the Smithsonian Institution; Chief Librarian at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) |
| | Thomas J. Galvin | 1979–1980 | Executive Director of American Library Association, 1985–1989 | |
| | Peggy A. Sullivan | 1980–1981 | Executive Director of American Library Association, 1992–1994 | Library historian, library educator, library administrator. |
| | 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 | Association of College and Research Libraries Academic Librarian of the Year (1983),Joseph W. Lippincott Award | Director of libraries at University of California, Berkeley and the University of Michigan. |
| | Patricia G. Schuman | 1991–1992 | Treasurer, 1984–1988. American Library Association Honorary Membership | founder and President, Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1973–2012 |
| | Marilyn L. Miller | 1992–1993 | | |
| | Hardy R. Franklin | 1993–1994 | | |
| | Arthur Curley | 1994–1995 | | Deputy 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. |
| | Betty J. Turock | 1995–1996 | American Library Association Honorary Membership | Dean and professor, Rutgers School of Communication and Information, Author, Envisioning a Nation Connected : Librarians Define the Public Interest in the Information Superhighway. |
| | Mary R. Somerville | 1996–1997 | President of the Association for Library Service to Children | Director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System |
| | Barbara J. Ford | 1997–1998 | President of the Association of College and Research Libraries | Director, Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003–2014. |
| | Ann K. Symons | 1998–1999 | Also served as treasurer, 1992–1996. | |
| | Sarah Ann Long | 1999–2000 | | |
| | Nancy C. Kranich | 2000–2001 | | Editor, Libraries & Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty. Chicago: American Library Association, 2001 |
| | John W. Berry | 2001–2002 | President of the Freedom to Read Foundation; trustee, American Library in Paris | |
| | Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman | 2002–2003 | President, Library and Information Technology Association | |
| | Carla D. Hayden | 2003–2004 | | Librarian of Congress (appointed 2016) |
| | Carol Brey | 2004–2005 | | |
| | Michael Gorman | 2005–2006 | | Our Enduring Values: Librarianship in the 21st Century |
| | Leslie Burger | 2006–2007 | Established "Emerging Leaders Program" at the American Library Association. Appointed interim Executive Director of the American Library Association in 2023. | President of the Connecticut Library Association. President of the New Jersey Library Association. |
| | Loriene Roy | 2007–2008 | She was the ALA's first Native American president. | Convener on Indigenous Matters for the International Federation of Library Associations, 2008-2009 |
| | James R. Rettig | 2008–2009 | | |
| | Camila A. Alire | 2009–2010 | She was the ALA's first Hispanic/Latina American president. | |
| | Roberta A. Stevens | 2010–2011 | | |
| | Molly Raphael | 2011–2012 | | |
| | Maureen Sullivan | 2012–2013 | | |
| | Barbara Stripling | 2013–2014 | President of the Freedom to Read Foundation | |
| | Courtney Young | 2014–2015 | | |
| | Sari Feldman | 2015–2016 | | |
| | Julie Todaro | 2016–2017 | President, Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007-2008. | Dean of Library Services, Austin Community College. President, Texas Library Association, 2000-2001. |
| | James G. Neal | 2017–2018 | Senior Policy Fellow, American Library Association to advise the Washington Office on Public Policy and Advocacy | |
| | Loida Garcia-Febo | 2018–2019 | | |
| | Wanda Kay Brown | 2019–2020 | President, 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. | 2020–2021 | President of the Freedom to Read Foundation, 2013–2016. | |
| | Patricia "Patty" Wong | 2021–2022 | She was the ALA's first Asian American president. | |
| | 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. | Associate Professor at the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. |
| | Cindy Hohl | 2024–2025 | First SPECTRUM scholar to be ALA President. | President of the American Indian Library Association, 2020–2021. |
| | | Sam Helmick | 2025–2026 | American Library Association Executive Board. | President, Iowa Library Association |