Early ALA Posters now Digitized and Online

A woman in classical robes holds books under one arm while holding aloft the ALA seal, superimposed over a map of the United States.
Promotional poster for the ALA 50th Anniversary

Posters used by the ALA during its early history are now digitized for long-term preservation and access copies are available for viewing online. [Database currently down, 3/8/2019] Subjects covered in these posters include the ALA’s work with the Library War Service to the American military during World War I, the importance of the freedom to read used during World War II, celebrating the ALA 50 Year Anniversary (in 1926) and the Carnegie Centenary (in 1935), as well as librarianship recruitment and general library promotion during the early twentieth century. These posters provide important documentary evidence of both the work of the ALA and how the presentation of American libraries and librarianship has changed over the past century.

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After the Eleventh Hour

"Your Next Job and Where to Look For It" RS: 89/1/13
“Your Next Job and Where to Look For It,” Record Series 89/1/13

Veterans Day honored the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, bringing an end to the fighting of the Great War.  Angela Jordan has already detailed the work done by the American Library Association during the war, however the ALA’s role did not end on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  The time after the signing of the armistice would actually account for one of the busiest periods for the ALA during the war. Continue reading “After the Eleventh Hour”