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 ImageNameTermOther ALA postsOther accomplishmentsJustin WinsorCutler, Wayne and Michael H Harris. 1980. Justin Winsor Scholar-Librarian. Littleton Colo: Libraries Unlimited.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 PooleWilliamson, William Landram. 1963. William Frederick Poole and the Modern Library Movement. New York: Columbia University Press.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 CutterMiksa, Francis L 1977. Charles Ammi Cutter Library Systematizer. Littleton Colo: Libraries Unlimited.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.Boston Athenaeum. The Athenaeum Centenary; the Influence and History of the Boston Athenaeum from 1807 to 1907 with a Record of Its Officers and Benefactors and a Complete List of Proprietors. Boston: Gregg Press; 1972.Frederick Morgan Crunden1889–1890 Director St. Louis Public Library, 1877–1909; First president of the Missouri State Library Association. Melvil DeweyWiegand, Wayne A. (1996). Irrepressible Reformer: A Biography of Melvil Dewey. Chicago: American Library Association.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 GreenJuly–Nov 1891 "Father of reference work."Green, Samuel Swett. “Personal Relations Between Librarians and Readers”. Library Journal, v. 1 (October 1876): 74-81.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, 1880–1892William Isaac FletcherMay 22, 1892 – 1892 Editor of ALA Index to General Literature.Director, Amherst College library, 1883–1911.Melvil Dewey1892–1893 See above.Josephus Nelson LarnedYoung, Betty (October 1975). "Josephus Nelson Larned and the Public Library Movement". The Journal of Library History. 10 (4): 323–340. 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 Utley1894–1895 Director of the Detroit Public Library 1885–1913.Henry Munson Utley. Library Journal. 42 (1): 190. March 1917.John Cotton DanaJohnson, Hazel Alice. 1937. “John Cotton Dana.” Library Quarterly 7 (January): 50–98.1895–1896 Founder of the Newark Museum, 1909. Founder of the Special Libraries Association.William Howard Brett1896–1897 Developed the library school program at Western Reserve University. Dean, 1903.Justin WinsorJuly–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 PutnamRosenberg, Jane Aiken. (1993) The Nation's Great Library: Herbert Putnam and the Library of Congress, 1899–1939 (University of Illinois Press, 1993)Jan.–Aug 1898 Also served as president 1903–1904.Librarian of Congress, 1899–1939.William Coolidge Lane1898–1899 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 Thwaites1899–1900 President of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1910.Henry James Carr1900–1901 Also served as treasurer, 1886–1893; Served as secretary 1898–1900. Director of Scranton Public Library, 1891–1929.John Shaw BillingsChapman, Carleton (1994). Order out of chaos : John Shaw Billings and America's coming of age. Boston: Boston Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.1901–1902 First director of the New York Public Library. Modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office.James Kendall Hosmer1902–1903 Director, Minneapolis Public Library, 1892–1904. Author of many history books including The American Civil War.Hosmer, James K. 1913. The American Civil War. New York: Harper & Bros.Herbert Putnam1903–1904 See above.Ernest Cushing RichardsonBranscomb, Lewis Capers (1 January 1993). Ernest Cushing Richardson: Research Librarian, Scholar, Theologian, 1860-1939. Scarecrow Press.1904–1905 Richardson Classification.Outline of Richardson Classification [comp. by Ruth N. Latshaw]. New Jersey: N.p., 1963. Print.Frank Pierce Hill1905–1906 Also served as secretary 1891–1895.First director of the Newark Public Library, 1889.Clement Walker Andrews1906–1907 President of the American Library Institute from 1922 to 1924.Arthur Elmore Bostwick1907–1908 Director of Saint Louis Public Library, 1909–1938.Charles Henry Gould1908–1909Chaired ALA Committee on Interlibrary Loan.C. H. Gould, “[Report of the ALA] Committee on Co-ordination [regarding the Code of Practice for Interlibrary Loans],” Library Journal 42 (1917): 634 First university librarian at McGill University, 1892, President of the Bibliographical Society of AmericaNathaniel Dana Carlile Hodges1909–1910 Director of the Cincinnati Public Library, 1900–1924. Notable Ohio Librarians Hall of Fame, 1980.James Ingersoll Wyer1910–1911 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 Elmendorf1911–1912American Library Association's first woman president. President of the New York Library Association 1903–1904.Henry Eduard Legler1912–1913 Secretary, Wisconsin Library Commission, 1904–1909. Librarian, Chicago Public Library, 1909–1917. Curator, Wisconsin Historical SocietyEdwin Hatfield Anderson1913–1914Also served as treasurer, 1895–1896 Director of the New York Public Library, 1909–1934.Hiller Crowell Wellman1914–1915 Librarian for the Springfield (Massachusetts) City Library from 1902- 1948.Mary Wright Plummer1915–1916 Member of the first class taught by Melvil Dewey at the Columbia College School of Library Economy, 1887.Walter Lewis Brown1916–1917 Created the ALA War Service Committee 1917.Director of the Buffalo, NY Public Library, 1906–1931; President of the New York Library Association, 1906.Rooney, Paul M. (1978). "Walter Lewis Brown," pp. 65-66. In Dictionary of American Library Biography, eds. Bobinski. George S.; Jesse Hauk Shera and Bohdan S Wynar. 1978. Littleton Colo: Libraries Unlimited. Thomas Lynch Montgomery1917–1918 Founded the Pennsylvania Library Club, 1890.