American Library Association (ALA)

The American Library Association (ALA) was founded in 1876 in Philadelphia, at a conference held at the Pennsylvania Historical Society. The defined purposes of the ALA are fundamentally public service purposes�primarily public and educational, rather than professional. ALA is, therefore, characterized as a nonprofit corporation under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service code and has, from its formation, been open to �any person, library, or other organization interested in library service and librarianship�upon payment of the dues provided for in the Bylaws.�