The American Library Association (ALA) announced on October 5 that Tracie D. Hall will be leaving her role as the association’s executive director, effective October 6.

Hall—a librarian, author, and advocate, among other roles—was appointed as ALA’s first female African American executive director in January 2020 after a nationwide search, succeeding Mary W. Ghikas, and stepped into the position on February 24—only days before libraries across the country shut their doors to accommodate COVID-19 safety measures. Early in the pandemic, she joined ALA’s Washington Office urging Congress to support economic relief for libraries impacted by pandemic-mandated closures and recovery.

“To serve as executive director of ALA at any time would be a formidable task,” said Hall in a statement. “To take on that role at the outset of a pandemic and during an unprecedented escalation in censorship attempts has required intensive effort, which I have relished and learned from. And though there is still so much to do, I believe I am leaving the Association—stewarded by its dedicated board, membership, and committed staff—on course to achieve new levels of impact in the realization of its mission.”

Prior to taking the lead at ALA, Hall served as director of the Joyce Foundation Culture Program in Chicago. She has worked at the Seattle Public Library; the New Haven Free Library, CT; Queens Public Library, NY; and Hartford Free Public Library, CT, and was assistant dean of Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science, IL. In 1998, she was among the first cohort of ALA’s Spectrum Scholars, and served as the director of ALA’s Office of Diversity from 2003–06.

The National Book Foundation (NBF) presented Hall with the 2022 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community—the second librarian to be so honored. This year alone she received the Literacy Leader Award from scaleLIT, a Chicago-based literacy advocacy organization; was named the Beacon Award winner by Illinois Humanities as part of its public humanities honors; received the Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom of Speech and Expression Award; and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine,

During her tenure, Hall helped drive ALA’s private funding, media visibility, and key partnerships. She has been an effective advocate for accessibility, adult and family literacy, arts access, broadband access, digital inclusion, equitable transformation in libraries and their communities, anti-censorship efforts, the right to read for incarcerated people and those re-entering their communities after incarceration, and eliminating information poverty. At the time of her NBF award, shortly before Banned Books Week, Hall described researching censorship in libraries during the McCarthy era.

“I was also interested in what were the books that were being heavily banned then, before we created Banned Books Week, and began to keep a running list,” she told LJ upon receiving the NBF award. “The books that were being banned during that period were Robin Hood, because of its focus on interrogating the hoarding of wealth, and Civil Disobedience by [Henry David] Thoreau, because it was already becoming an early primer for the civil rights movement…. Books that were banned 50 years ago and books that are being banned right now—that’s making for some interesting comparative reading.”

“Tracie has been a strong guiding force for ALA and a tireless champion for libraries, library workers, and the communities they serve,” said ALA President Emily Drabinski. “A passionate steward of our profession, she has demonstrated unparalleled leadership and an unwavering commitment to ALA’s mission, especially at a time when there has been unprecedented attention around our work. As she now moves onward, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Tracie for her outstanding service and indelible contributions to ALA and wish her continued success in her future endeavors.”

ALA will name an interim executive director in the coming weeks as it prepares to begin a nationwide search for a successor.