SAN DIEGO — Some 13,500 librarians, authors, illustrators and exhibitors attended the American Library Association annual conference here June 27-July 2, including 340 librarians from 51 other countries. More than 500 exhibitors displayed their wares, including Pathfinder Press.
Volunteers at Pathfinder Press’ attractive booth found a good reception, with over 100 librarians and other participants signing up to receive more information on Pathfinder’s catalogue for future orders. A total of 86 books, including 49 different titles in English, Spanish, French and Farsi, were sold. Topping the list were 11 copies of Pathfinder’s newest title, The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch: Stakes for the International Working Class, and eight copies of Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History. edited by Mary-Alice Waters, a long-time Socialist Workers Party leader and president of Pathfinder Press. Several people were attracted to New International magazine no. 7, featuring “Washington’s Assault on Iraq: Opening Guns of World War III,” three of which were sold.Many took promotional material and snapped photos of books that piqued their interest, as well as titles in Spanish to consider for their libraries.
One attendee asked if The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch “is for or against the Jews?” After hearing an explanation of its stand against Jew-hatred and Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 pogrom in Israel, he bought it and three other books.
A Teamster union member who works at the Convention Center where the conference was held bought Farrell Dobbs’ four-volume set on the lessons of building a class-struggle Teamsters union in Minneapolis in the 1930s, along with a subscription to the Militant. Twelve people subscribed to the paper at the conference.
A display of Ukrainian children’s art — “Children Draw War not Flowers” — organized by the San Jose State University School of Information attracted attention. The ALA sponsored a program “Supporting Libraries in Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities,” featuring five Ukrainian librarians who gave video presentations on challenges facing them as Ukraine fights Moscow’s drive to wipe out the country’s people and culture. Ukrainian librarians have sheltered over 42,000 children displaced by the war. They are rebuilding libraries and cultural centers deliberately bombed by the Vladimir Putin regime.
There were also programs on expanding library services to non-English speakers in the U.S., especially immigrants and their children whose first language is Spanish; as well as to prisoners and people with visual impairments.
Unlike last year’s conference, which featured several programs on the Holocaust and the ALA-sponsored traveling Holocaust exhibit, there was only one program on the Holocaust. No program addressed the May 27 New York Times op-ed by James Kirchick, “A Chill Has Fallen Over Jews in Publishing,” which reported a spreading blacklist against authors who support Israel.
There were several workshops and programs on various fights against book bans. In the opening program, American Library Association President Emily Drabinski said they would “fight for the rights of people to read” and combat “the culture of censorship” that is growing.
These programs and a “Rally for the right to read,” which attracted 300 conference goers, focused almost entirely on attacks by conservative forces, usually omitting the more far-reaching bans imposed by liberals, part of the “cancel culture” in vogue on the left.
ALA leaders announced its 2025 conference will be in Philadelphia.