Get Involved with ALA

AL Direct is our weekly email newsletter, full of breaking news and feature stories on issues affecting every type of library. Don’t miss out on this valuable news and information service from American Libraries . Make sure your email address is current with ALA by logging to “My ALA” and update your contact information today.

ALA Connect is a centralized space where official ALA “groups” can work together online and where any member can create a new “communities” (unofficial ALA groups). ALA Connect provides a number of tools for working together-- posts, online documents, a calendar, polls, a chat room, a discussion board, and images (logos, pictures, etc.). All official ALA organizations and active committees have a page in ALA Connect. To visit yours go to http://connect.ala.org/ and log in with your ALA website username and password.

Over 300 ALA email discussion lists cover almost every conceivable topic in library work. Join an asynchronous conversation with some of the most interesting people you’d ever want to meet: your fellow members. Comment on blog posts, add your expertise to our wikis or connect with us on social media.

ALA’s divisions and other units offer continuing education opportunities in many forms—in person at conferences and regional institutes or on your own schedule through distance options. Review the offerings on our Ongoing Professional Development page to locate the courses you need to build your library and general skills. Meet your personal learning requirements at affordable member rates.

Use our online Legislative Action Center as your direct link to Congress, the executive, state legislators, and the media about issues affecting libraries. Make your voice heard today.

Submit an idea for a program, paper, panel discussion, table talk or poster session at an ALA or divisional national conference or symposium. There is always a lot to learn when you attend conference. Why not also share your own experience. Contact the division, round table or committee whose work interests you to get started.

Consider this your invitation to help set the course of the association. Contact the chair of the ALA Nominating Committee and express your interest in being nominated. Contact your chapter or division about running for a leadership post. Contact the Council Secretariat and ask how to run as a petition candidate for Council.

Decisions are made by the people who show up. There are hundreds of committees in ALA, each with specific functions, goals, and interests. Browse through this website for groups you’d like to work with, then contact the chair of the committee and ask how to get involved. At an ALA conference, stop by a committee meeting and listen to what’s going on. To become a member of a committee, it helps to express your interest in serving on a committee by filling out the online volunteer form.

This is direct democracy in action. Make your voice heard; express a concern; ask ALA to take a stand. Draft a formal resolution and present it at a Membership Meeting or ask an ALA councilor to present it to Council. Contact the chair of the ALA Resolutions Committee or the Council Secretariat at ALA Headquarters for details, or stop by the Resolutions Table in the ALA office area at a Midwinter Meeting or Annual Conference. See Resolution Guidelines for information on preparing and submitting resolutions.