Illustration of a red heart with white text above and whit red and pink text below on a blue background

The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) was established in 1872. It was designed by architect Bertram Goodhue, using inspiration from ancient Egyptian, and Mediterranean Revival. The library employs over eight hundred people. It has over six million in their collections at seventy-two branches, including a rare books collection, a photo collection from Ansel Adams to Carolyn Kozo Cole’s diversity photo collection, to their science, technology and patents collection, and a uniquely expansive map collection from the private collection of a local map enthusiast. Today, LAPL serves over four million patrons in all their locations throughout the Los Angeles area.  

Illustration of the state of Colorado with black text on it and red text above and below and a red "No" symbol over it with black text around the outer edge on a white background

This button was designed for and worn by participants at the American Library Association's 1993 midwinter meeting in Denver, Colorado. Amendment 2 precluded any judicial, legislative, or executive action to protect people from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Its passing led to a Supreme Court case, Romer v. Evans, in which the main concern was whether Amendment 2 violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court found, in a 6-3 majority, that Amendment 2 did violate the Equal Protection Clause because it denied legal protection against discrimination towards homosexual and bisexual people.

Yellow and green text on a black background with purple above and below

The American Library Association promotes Banned Book Week by stressing the importance of freedom to read any material, regardless of whether a certain group of people find it offensive. The ALA keeps a list of popular banned or challenged books and releases the most frequently challenged books of the previous year during National Library Week in April. Top banned books of 2014 included The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Black and white photograph of a man's head with black text around the outer edge on a white backgroud

Charles W. Robinson (1928 – 2016) served as the director of the Baltimore County Public Library from 1963 until his retirement in 1996. He began his library career in 1953 at the Free Library of Philadelphia before taking a position at the Baltimore County Library in 1959. Robinson served as president of the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association, in 1984-85. He also served twice on the council of the American Library Association. When he retired in 1996, the Public Library Association established the Charlie Robinson Award, which is awarded annually to a public library director who has been an innovator in the field.

Blue and white text on an orange-red background

“Your Right to Know: Librarians Make It Happen” was the theme of National Library Week in 1992. As part of the event, promotional materials such as buttons were developed. Since 1958, National Library Week has been organized by the American Library Association to celebrate the role of libraries in society, recognize the work of librarians and promote library services. The event is held in April each year.

“Your Right to Know: Librarians Make It Happen” was also the topic of a 1992 American Library Association conference-within-a-conference, which focused on access to government information.

A yellow circle with orange text on it and yellow text below on an orange background

This button was made for the American Library Association, which is a nonprofit organization to support librarians and libraries. In the 1970s and 1980s the ALA supported the Equal Rights Amendment with several buttons.

The Equal Rights Amendment was proposed to guarantee equal rights for women in both 1923 and 1972. The ERA passed Congress and was proposed for ratification on March 22, 1972 with a seven year deadline for ratification. As the deadline approached advocates protested for an extension and, as a result of these protests, Congress moved the deadline to June 30, 1982. The ERA fell three states short of ratification by the extended deadline. The National Women's Conference Committee declared July 1, 1982 A New Day Beyond ERA, to rededicate themselves to the principles of women's rights. These women dedicated themselves, not just to continuing to work for passage of the ERA, but to working for a variety of women's issues from childcare to politics. They held demonstrations in cities across the country.  

White text with an illustration of two white and blue shooting stars above on an orange background

ViP stands for Visitor in Pennsylvania, this button was used during a Pennsylvania Tourism Campaign. The campaign was a five year strategic plan made in 2010. The overall goal was to promote overnight stays in Pennsylvania. 

White text on a black background

The American Library Association (ALA) is the oldest and largest library association in the world. Within the ALA are other divisions, including the Member Promotion Task Force. The members that are part of the this task force are charged with promoting ALA membership within their respective units. 

Yellow illustration of a star on a white background with purple text on top

The American Library Association (ALA) is the oldest and largest library association in the world. One of their goals is to inform people about libraries and information. To help do this they have the 'ASK the ALA Library' tool on their website. It allows people to read about commonly asked questions, along with blogs on different topics. 

Illustration of a yellow star on a background of three shades of purple with purple, white and blue text

The Association of College and Research Libraries is a division of the American Library Association. In April of 2005, the ACRL held their 12th National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The theme of the conference was “Currents and Convergence: Navigation the Rivers of Change.” The conference was held to provide a setting to discuss major issues, and to offer networking opportunities for the members who attended.