Ann K. Symons

Ann K. Symons is an American librarian. She served as a president of the American Library Association from 1998 to 1999^[1] and prior to that Treasurer from 1992 to 1996.^[2]

Education

Symons earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California and a Masters in Library Sciences degree from the University of Oregon.^[3]

Career

She has been a school librarian since 1970^[3] working in Alaska and Anglo American School of Moscow.^[2]

During her ALA Presidency, her presidential initiative was the adoption of a new ALA intellectual freedom statement Libraries: An American Value.^[2]

Awards

She was the 1999 recipient of the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award from the American Library Association,^[1] the 2002 recipient of the Joseph W. Lippincott Award from the American Library Association, and the 2014 recipient of American Library Association Equality Award^[4]

In 2017 Symons was awarded American Library Association Honorary Membership, the highest honor awarded.^[2]

Selected publications

• Protecting the Right to Read (Neal Schuman, 1995)
• Speaking Out! Voices in Celebration of Intellectual Freedom (ALA Editions, 1999)

References