EMIERT (Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table)

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  • To serve as a source of information on recommended ethnic collections, services, and programs.
  • To organize task forces, institutes, and workshops to carry out the functions of the Round Table as defined in the petition.
  • To develop for Annual conferences forums and symposia programs that deal with the key issues of ethnicity and librarianship.
  • To maintain a liaison with the Office of Library Outreach Services and cooperate with other ALA units, including the caucuses in joint projects for the betterment of outreach services.
  • To disseminate the work of the Round Table through a program of publications

Learn more about EMIERT on the ALA website.

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The LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund

  • 1.  The LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund

    Posted 2 hours ago

    The LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund was established in 1970 as a special trust  devoted to the support, maintenance, medical care, and welfare of librarians who, in the Trustees' opinion, are: 

    • Denied employment rights or discriminated against on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, age, disability, or place of national origin.

    • Denied employment rights because of defense of intellectual freedom; that is, threatened with loss of employment or discharged because of their stand for the cause of intellectual freedom, including promotion of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, the freedom of librarians to select items for their collections from all the world's written and recorded information, and defense of privacy rights.  

    The current unprecedented threats made to library workers, including legislation criminalizing library work, legislation preventing libraries from participating in the American Library Association or other professional organizations for necessary support and defense from attacks, false characterization of library workers as "groomers," organized efforts by local chapters of extremist organizations to leverage culture war issues to defund libraries, wrongful termination of employment of library workers who identify with historically marginalized groups, threats of bombs and other violence at libraries, and other efforts to make library work untenable for many in the profession make the Merritt Fund particularly important right now.


    The Merritt Fund's fundraising group, has created a toolkit designed to help individuals and groups with soliciting donations for and promoting the usage of the Merritt Fund.  Please go to https://www.oif.ala.org/the-merritt-fund-promotional-toolkit/ to access this useful toolkit.  In addition to promoting the Merritt Fund, please consider donating to the Merritt Fund as you are able.  Fundraising is particularly difficult, as the donations are not tax deductible, so your support and promotion of the Merritt Fund is particularly critical.



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