This year, on the exhibits floor at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., attendees will find the typical publisher booths, vendors, author signings, and pop-up events. They may also see a recruitment booth for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). On Friday afternoon, a group of librarians from Librarians for Democracy, including Alison Macrina, director of the Library Freedom Project, staged a protest against the CIA's presence at the conference.

In a statement handed out during the protest, the organizers explain that "The Central Intelligence Agency stands in direct opposition to our core values.... That is why today, we join those librarians who came before us as we stand up to oppose CIA recruitment at the ALA Annual Conference....The CIA has participated for decades in the violent overthrow of governments while propping up dictators all over the world. The CIA believes in absolute secrecy for itself, but total surveillance for all others. The CIA makes use of ultra-secretive 'black sites' to conduct torture and extrajudicial detention. We need not list their entire history to show that library workers should not be associated with them, that the CIA's actions are incompatible with the values of librarianship. In an era where democracy is in jeopardy, where the government and its agencies are under the control of a dangerous white supremacist regime, library workers must take a stand against undemocratic forces — particularly those as powerful as the CIA."

The statement goes on to say, "There are some who might read our demand and think that we are stifling the free speech of the CIA, but rejecting the influence of an incredibly powerful US intelligence agency is not censorship, it is resistance. As a voluntary membership organization embodying the values of librarianship, the American Library Association must work with vendors, exhibitors, and conference speakers who reflect our values. ALA must think about what this means."

Two of the organizers, Al Kagan, a professor of library administration at the Africana Library in Urbana, IL, and Tom Twiss, a librarian at the University of Pittsburgh, authored the resolution that will go before the ALA membership today, before proceeding to Council, reprinted below.

[photo credit: Alison Macrina]

Resolution on CIA Recruitment at ALA Meetings

Whereas, the American Library Association (ALA), has expressed “…its unswerving opposition
to any use of governmental prerogative which leads to the intimidation of the individual or the citizenry from the exercise of the constitutionally protected right of free expression” (ALA Resolution on Government Intimidation, February 2, 1973);

Whereas, the resolution noted above was reaffirmed on January 24, 2017 (Resolution on Access to Accurate Information, 2016-2017 ALA CD 19.10);

Whereas, the American Library Association has encouraged its members to resist “… improper uses of governmental power” (ALA Resolution on Government Intimidation, February 2, 1973);

Whereas, “ALA condemns the use or threat of use of torture by the US government as a barbarous violation of human rights, intellectual freedom and the rule of law” (A Resolution Against the Use of Torture as a Violation of the American Library Association's Basic Values, CD#59, June 30, 2004);

Whereas, the American Library Association opposes “…the use by government of disinformation, media manipulation, the destruction and excision of public information, and other such tactics” (ALA Council Resolution, June 29, 2005, 2004-2005 ALA CD#64);

Whereas, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has used all the methods described above in its work around the world; and

Whereas, the CIA continues to use many of the methods described above for manipulating foreign elections, overthrowing democratically elected governments, and generally interfering in the affairs of countries around the world; now,therefore be it

Resolved , that the American Library Association (ALA)

1. prohibits CIA recruitment at all ALA conferences and meetings.