(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- At least 15,000 librarians from across the country are expected at McCormick Place over the weekend for the American Library Association's annual conference, and top of mind is their fight against book banning.
"I was talking to a librarian recently, and she had been put on leave from her job because she had stood up for the right to read,” Tracie Hall, the executive director of the American Library Association, told WBBM Newsradio on Wednesday.
She said "warrior/activist” is not necessarily part of the job description, but adds: "It necessarily is a part of making sure we're on the right side of history when all is said and done.”
She said central to the ALA’s mission is providing access to information for all: “We won't stand down when it comes to that."
Not that every book belongs on the shelf. Hall says librarians have to navigate misinformation and disinformation in deciding what goes into an American library.
"What I say to librarians is, keep the faith," Hall says. "Keep protecting books, reading and libraries for all and certainly for the next generation."
The library conference runs Thursday through Tuesday. Among the speakers at this convention: author Judy Bloom, singer and author Idina Menzel and Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman.
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