ALA Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL)

ALA Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL) Find us at: http://tinyurl.com/ala-coswl
And on Twitter:
ALA Connect: http://connect.ala.org/node/64013

CHARGE:

To officially represent the diversity of women’s interest within ALA and to ensure that the Association considers the rights of the majority (women) in the library field. To promote and initiate the collection, analysis, dissemination, and coordination of information on the status of women in librarianship. To coordinate the activities of ALA units that consider questions having special r

elevance for women. To identify lags, gaps, and possible discrimination in resources and programs relating to women. To help develop evaluative tools, guidelines, and programs in cooperation with other ALA units designed to enhance the opportunities and the image of women in the library profession, thus raising the level of consciousness concerning women. To establish contacts with committees on women within other professional groups and to officially represent ALA concerns at interdisciplinary meetings on women’s equality. To provide Council and Membership with reports needed for the establishment of policies and actions related to the status of women in librarianship, and monitor ALA units to ensure consideration of the rights of women.

04/25/2026
04/25/2026

The lineup includes Broadway’s “Suffs,” Nicole Scherzinger’s Royal Albert Hall Concert debut, the West End’s revival of Irving Berlin’s “Top Hat,” and

04/24/2026

Library joy can often be found in the pages of your favorite story. The American Library Association fights to keep stories for every reader on library shelves.

This National Library Week, support libraries for the next generation of readers by giving to ALA's 150th anniversary campaign. All donations to the campaign through Saturday, April 25, are matched 2:1, tripling your impact to libraries.

Give today: https://bit.ly/41OYypI

📸 Children gathered around a librarian during story hour at the New York Public Library, from the ALA Archives.

04/23/2026

One key finding of 2025's censorship landscape was the identity of intellectual freedom challenges — those who seek to ban or restrict access to library materials and services. Contrary to common narratives suggesting that book challenges originate primarily from concerned parents, data from our Office for Intellectual Freedom shows otherwise.

Approximately 92% of the titles challenged in 2025 were targeted by pressure groups (20.8%) and government decision makers (70.9%). By comparison, only 2.7% of challenges came from individual parents, and 1.4% came from individual library users.

This represents a dramatic shift from previous years. In the past, pressure groups and government officials accounted for roughly 12.9% of book challenges, averaging about 46 titles per year. In 2025 alone, those same actors targeted 7,884 books. That number includes 4,235 unique titles, which means that many titles were targeted multiple times. This duplication reflects a large-scale, coordinated effort.

We dig into the censorship data: https://bit.ly/4cmgFWQ

04/22/2026

Today is National Library Outreach Day, a day we celebrate libraries and library workers bringing the library to the people!

From bookmobiles and pop-ups to home delivery and library services for the incarcerated, library outreach meets communities where they are and ensures access to knowledge, connection, and care—no matter the barriers.

Connect with your library today and everyday, wherever you find it in your community!

National Library Outreach Day is coordinated in collaboration with the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services and the Association of Rural and Small Libraries.

04/22/2026

Mychal Threets, the host of the revival of the beloved children's program "Reading Rainbow" discusses challenges to libraries, including a rise in book bans.

04/22/2026

Friday, April 17 — The Freedom to Read
"The Librarian Who Said No: The Alabama Story of Emily Wheelock Reed"

In 1959, a children's book called "The Rabbits' Wedding" by Garth Williams was published by Harper and Brothers. It was a gentle story about two rabbits — one white, one black — who fall in love and get married. It was intended for very young children. The illustrations were soft and sweet. The text was simple.
In Alabama, the book caused a political firestorm.
State legislators and newspaper editors argued that the book promoted racial integration through its depiction of a black rabbit and a white rabbit marrying. It was an argument that required considerable effort to make seriously, but serious efforts were made. Calls came for the book to be removed from Alabama public libraries and placed, at a minimum, behind a restricted access counter where it could not be reached without a specific request.
The Alabama Public Library Service was at that time led by a director named Emily Wheelock Reed. Reed was a professional librarian of considerable standing, trained and experienced, and she had a clear view of what her job required her to do. She declined to restrict the book. She said, plainly and publicly, that her professional responsibility was to the readers of Alabama — all of them — and that she would not allow political pressure to determine what books those readers could access.
The pressure on Reed was sustained and significant. She was called before the Legislature. She faced public criticism and professional intimidation. She did not move.
Reed eventually left Alabama, but the principle she defended did not leave with her. The story of "The Rabbits' Wedding" became one of the early landmark cases in the history of intellectual freedom in American libraries, studied and cited in library schools for decades afterward. It happened here. It was an Alabama librarian who held the line.
She worked for this agency. Her example belongs to all of us.

04/21/2026

It's National Library Workers Day - our favorite day of National Library Week!

Today we celebrate the hardworking, dedicated library professionals who power possibility in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our places of higher learning. As library workers across the U.S. continue to face challenges to their jobs and harassment from bad actors, it's essential we show up for them and voice our support for the work they do every day.

Thank you, library workers - libraries work because YOU do!

04/20/2026

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