What Library Associations Do I want to belong?

As I have mentioned on numerous occasions, I already work at a public library. So, I know at least one association that I want to eventually join. That is the American Library Association (ALA). The other professional association that would seem to fit my professional interests would be the Public Library Association (PLA).

Let me tell you about the American Library Association. The ALA is the oldest library association in the world, founded in 1876. It is also the largest library association in the world. It's mission"is to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all." (ala.org, About section, para. 2).

There are many types of memberships available, at different price points, including memberships for students. As a member, you can join committees, take online courses, and have an instant network of library professionals at your fingertips.

The ALA website has a plethora of information on it. The best part is that you do not need to be a member of ALA to access the information. I use this website all the time, especially right now to help promote library card sign up month, and banned books week. The ALA website offers programming ideas, promotional ideas, and even shows all the awards that are offered. Webinars are offered for a fee. 

The main activity of the ALA is to help library professionals get information out into the community. The ALA is not just for public libraries. The ALA offers the tools to help any library from academic to medical promote themselves.

The ALA has a few publications, but American Libraries is the major one. It is published 6 times a year, and if you have a membership to ALA, you automatically get a subscription to the publication. It is basically an offshoot of the ALA, providing information on how to promote your library.

Now let me move to the PLA. The Public Library Association is a division of the American Library Association. Its main focus is obviously the public library system and how to improve it. The association provides information on funding for public libraries, the best way to train both managers and other workers in a public library, promotion of public libraries to the community, and recognition of outstanding librarians.

The PLA's website is full of information on how to join. But, like the ALA, it offers a lot of tools that can help public libraries in any way. They also have a publication  called Public Libraries magazine. This publication is published 6 times a year also. The publication is strictly dedicated to public libraries.

I reviewed an issue of both publications and like most journals, found some very helpful articles, and some that were not very useful. I prefer to use the website for both, as most of the tools I need are found here.

Both the ALA and PLA have a social media presence that is full of links to articles they think we, as librarians, would find useful. Again, I thought the websites were more helpful.

Finally, I thought I would like to join these two associations because I already use their websites as a tool when I work on programming. I already work in a public library, and plan on making it my career so it would only make sense that I join both associations. Until this blog, I had never explored the membership opportunities and did not realize I can join right now if I wanted to. So, I will probably join very soon.