Librarians prepare to take Washington by storm
Catching up with PW's Andrew Albanese
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As the American Library Association prepares for its annual conference in Washington, DC, later this month, the organization is once again looking for a new permanent executive director.
As Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer, explains, longtime ALA head Keith Michael Fiels retired nearly two years ago, after the 2017 Annual Conference. Mary Ghikas has led the organization since Fiels’s departure, but after more than two decades working at ALA, Ghikas herself is looking to retire in January 2020.
“Ghikas is hoping to leave as her legacy a modernized, revamped organization,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
According to Albanese, ALA officials expect a strong showing of librarians for the conference, and if history is any guide, they have good reason to. The 2007 conference in Washington still holds the ALA attendance record, drawing 28,635 attendees and more than 950 exhibitors. Three years later, the 2010 show in Washington drew nearly 27,000, the third-most-attended ALA conference.
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
