Hot Days, Hotter Topics | ALA Annual 2025; Library Journal, July 9, 2025

Matt Enis, Lisa Peet, Hallie Rich, & Kara Yorio , Library Journal; Hot Days, Hotter Topics | ALA Annual 2025

"This year’s American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference, held from June 26–30 in Philadelphia, drew 14,250 participants: librarians and library staff, authors, publishers, educators, and exhibitors, including 165 international members. While still not up to pre-pandemic attendance levels, the conference was—by all accounts—buzzing and busy, with well-attended sessions and a bustling exhibit floor.

Even with temperatures topping 90˚, Philly wasn’t the only hot aspect of the conference. A cluster of topics seemed to be at the center of nearly every discussion: how libraries would cope in the face of current or anticipated budget cuts, the impacts of ongoing attacks on the freedom to read and DEI, the ramping up of ICE and police surveillance, the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and firing of Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, and the uses and ethics of artificial intelligence (AI)."