Happy 140th Birthday ALA

One hundred and forty years ago today the American Library Association was created in Philadelphia, PA.  Below are some links to online exhibits that help celebrate this milestone in the history of ALA.

Celebrating the Organizers - 140 Years of Library Conference Planners in Letters and Images at the ALA Archives

Pinterest - ALA 140th Anniversary (American Libraries magazine)

Highlights in the History of the American Library Association - Library History Buff website

Previous LHBB posts about the American Library Association 

ALA at Saratoga Springs, NY in 1918

I’ve recently added a name badge for R. L. Walkley (Raymond L. Walkley) at the American Library Association conference in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1918 to my collection of librariana.  The ALA conference ran from July 1 to July 6 and had 620 attendees.  It’s nice to be able to tie a library artifact to a specific librarian.  Walkley served as Assistant Librarian of the Minneapolis Public Library from 1914-1920. He took a leave from MPL to serve in ALA’s Library War Service in 1917-1918.  Obviously a major topic of discussion at the 1918 conference was the war effort of ALA. The 1918 conference hotel was the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga Springs. Walkley later served as Librarian of Tufts College. See some other early ALA conference name badges HERE.