A Look Back at ALA Annual 2025

Abstract

Library conferences are a great way to discover new resources, further continuing education, network,
and develop lasting friendships in the library world. I attended the ALA Annual 2025 Conference and
Exhibition in Philadelphia this year, and I was continually amazed and invigorated by the excitement and
enthusiasm of the attendees, speakers, and presenters. In today’s political environment, it is easy to get
bogged down with threats to the library world, including censorship and budget cuts, but being among
friends and colleagues can reinvigorate professional optimism toward this very noble and important
field of librarianship in all its forms. As a Readers’ Advisory (RA) librarian, I focused on programs and
vendors that promoted RA services, but