The American Library Association (ALA) is a professional society of approximately 65,000 members (of which 94% are individual members). Approximately 3% of its membership comes from outside of the U.S.

ALA’s activities have worldwide impact which was recognized as early as 1942 when its charter was revised to explicitly expand its scope from promoting library interests just in the U.S. to promoting library interests throughout the world..

The mission of the International Relations Office (IRO) http://www.ala.org/ala/iro/international.cfm is to increase ALA's presence in the global library community, to implement ALA policies concerning international librarianship, to promote greater understanding of international librarianship and international library issues within ALA, and to manage international library activities on behalf of the ALA.

To accomplish its mission the IRO coordinates ALA activities in support of official ALA delegations to international events such as book fairs and congresses; promotes international library exchanges and partnerships; recruits international librarians to become members of ALA and attend ALA conferences; responds to international inquiries concerning library issues and activities in the United States; serves as a point of contact for ALA's routine communication with international organizations to which ALA belongs, including  IFLA and provides support for the ALA International Relations Committee and the International Relations Round Table.

Member resources the IRO has developed include:

· A Global Reach Database https://cs.ala.org/global/ and

· An International Relations Toolkit to provide tips and guidance on international workshops, conferences, protocols and cooperation agreements http://www.ala.org/ala/iro/irctoolkit.cfm

February 22, 2008