Accepting Applications for 2025 Class of ALA Emerging Leaders

The American Library Association (ALA) is now accepting applications for the 2025 class of Emerging Leaders (EL). Details on the program criteria can be found on the Emerging Leaders web page. The deadline to apply is Friday, September 6, 2024. Apply now.

The ALA EL program is a leadership development program which enables newer library workers from across the country and Canada to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. It puts participants on the fast track to ALA committee volunteerism as well as other professional library-related organizations.

An ALA division, round table, librarian association of color affiliate, state chapter or school library media association affiliate will sponsor approximately 70% of the selected applicants. Each sponsor will contribute a minimum of $1,000 ($500 for each conference) toward the expenses of attending the ALA 2025 LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience meeting ( in Phoenix, AZ, January 24-27, 2025) and the ALA Annual Conference (in Philadelphia, PA, June 26 - July 1, 2025). Sponsorship is not required for participation in the program. A list of sponsoring units is included as part of the online application.

Before applying, please read the program information on the Emerging Leaders web page.

For questions or more information, contact the EL program manager at emergingleaders@ala.org.

The ALA Emerging Leaders program is managed by the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR).