Emily Drabinski

Emily Drabinski
Name	Emily Drabinski
Alma mater	University of Iowa, Syracuse University
Occupation	Librarian, educator, association executive
Known for	President of the American Library Association (2023–2024)
Employer	City University of New York
Title	Associate Professor, Graduate Center, CUNY

Emily Drabinski is an American librarian, educator, and the 2023–2024 president of the American Library Association (ALA). An associate professor at the Graduate Center, CUNY, she is a prominent advocate for critical information literacy, labor rights, and intellectual freedom within the library profession. Her election to the ALA presidency garnered national attention amid a period of intense political debate over book banning and censorship in the United States.

Early life and education

Drabinski earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa, an institution with a strong tradition in writing and the humanities. She subsequently pursued her professional education in library science, receiving a Master of Library Science from Syracuse University's School of Information Studies. Her academic foundation at these institutions informed her later critical approach to the organization of knowledge and the politics of information access.

Career

Drabinski has held several key positions in academic libraries, building a career focused on instruction, outreach, and critical pedagogy. She served as the interim chief librarian at the Leonard Lief Library at Lehman College, part of the City University of New York system. Prior to that, she worked as a instruction librarian at Long Island University and at the Sarah Lawrence College library. In these roles, she developed expertise in information literacy instruction and library services for diverse student populations. She is currently an associate professor at the Graduate Center, CUNY, where she coordinates the Library Science program.

2022 ALA presidential election

Drabinski was elected president of the American Library Association in the 2022 election, defeating candidate Peter Devereaux. Her campaign centered on a platform of empowering library workers, fighting censorship, and building sustainable infrastructure for the nation's libraries. The election occurred during a widespread surge in book challenges targeting titles dealing with LGBTQ+ themes and critical race theory. Following her victory, a post on the social media platform Twitter (now X) in which she identified as a "Marxist" was seized upon by conservative media outlets like Fox News and politicians such as Senator Marco Rubio, sparking significant political controversy.

Tenure as ALA president

Drabinski's term as ALA president commenced in June 2023 at the conclusion of the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, where she succeeded Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada. Her presidency coincided with the launch of the association's new advocacy initiative, Unite Against Book Bans. A major focus of her tenure was defending the Library Bill of Rights and supporting librarians facing personal and professional attacks. She presided over the Midwinter Meeting in Baltimore in 2024 and concluded her term at the 2024 ALA Annual Conference in San Diego, passing the presidency to Cindy Hohl.

Views and advocacy

Drabinski is a noted scholar and advocate within critical library studies, a field that examines power structures within libraries and knowledge organization. Her work frequently critiques traditional systems like the Library of Congress Classification and advocates for more inclusive practices. She is a strong proponent of unionization for library workers and has been involved with the CUNY University Faculty Senate. Her advocacy extends to intellectual freedom, where she has consistently opposed legislative efforts like those in Texas and Florida that seek to restrict access to materials or penalize librarians.

Selected publications

Drabinski is the author and editor of numerous articles and books. She served as the editor of the journal College & Research Libraries. Notable works include the co-edited volume *The Critical Pedagogy Primer* and the article "Queering the Catalog: Queer Theory and the Politics of Correction," which appears in the journal Library Quarterly. She also co-edited *Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods*, a key text in the field of critical information literacy.

Category:American librarians Category:American Library Association people Category:City University of New York faculty Category:Year of birth missing (living people)