American Indian Library Association home page

Working to improve library and information services for American Indians

The American Indian Library Association, an affiliate of the American Library Association, is a membership action group that addresses the library-related needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives. AILA holds business meetings twice a year in conjunction with the American Library Association and publishes the American Indian Libraries Newsletter semi-annually.

Conferences:

2012 JCLC Joint Conference of Librarians of Color: September 19 - 23, 2012 Kansas City, MO.

News:

2012 Talk Story Grant Winners Announced

The American Indian Library Association (AILA) and the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), supported by Toyota Financial Services, are pleased to award the Baranov Museum in Kodiak, Alaska, Carson Regional Library in Carson, California, the Jamestown S'klallam Tribal Library in Sequim, Washington, the Mzenegen Tribal Library in Dorr, Michigan, and White Mesa Library of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Towaoc, Colorado each a $500 grant to host a Talk Story program at their library. Read more here.

AILA Names Scholarship in Honor of Virginia Mathews

The American Indian Library Association has named its library school scholarship the Virginia Mathews Memorial Scholarship to honor the memory of one of the original founders of AILA. Virginia Winslow Hopper Mathews, member of the American Library Association for 50 years and recipient of the American Library Association's Honorary Membership in 1994, died on Saturday, May 7, 2011. Read more about Virginia's contributions to AILA.

AILA and APALA Members Participate in Fun Run at ALA Midwinter in Dallas

Members of AILA and APALA braved the cold to participate in the ALA Midwinter 5k Fun Run early Saturday morning. Team members sported bibs supporting AILA, APALA and JCLC. Pictures courtesy of Florante Ibanez.

Statement on Ethnic Studies Programs in Arizona

The American Indian Library Association (AILA) wishes to publicly express its strong disapproval of the elimination of the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Mexican American Studies classes and removal of books associated with the program due to the State of Arizona Revised Statutes Sections 15-111 and 15-112. We write this statement in support of all students, educators, and families who have been negatively affected by this action. Read the full statement here. This version was edited on February 2, 2012.

2012 American Indian Youth Literature Award Winners Announced:
The American Indian Library Association (AILA), an affiliate of the American Library Association, has selected "The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood" (2011), written by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Ellen Beier; "Free Throw" (2011) and "Triple Threat" (2011), both written by Jacqueline Guest; and "Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School" (2010), written by Adam Fortunate Eagle, as recipients of the fourth American Indian Youth Literature Awards. Four titles were selected as Honor Books in the Picture Book category, two titles were selected as Honor Books in the Middle Grades category and one title was named as an Honor Book in the Young Adult category. See all American Indian Youth Literature Award winners.
The Christmas Coat by Virgina Driving Hawk Sneve, Ellen Beier(Illustrator)	Free Throw and Triple Threat by Jacqueline Guest	Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School by Adam Fortunate Eagle

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