Tracie D. Hall (born 1968) is an American librarian, author, curator, and advocate for the arts who served as the executive director of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

from 2020 to 2023. Hall is the first African American woman to lead the association since its founding in 1876.

Early life and education

Hall was born and raised in the

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), a list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Albie Watts, a fictional character in the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' *Angie ...

neighborhood of Los Angeles. She received a dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in law and society and African American studies from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

in 1991. She went on to receive a Master of Arts in international studies from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Washington Information School, where she studied under Spencer Shaw.

Career

Prior to her appointment as ALA executive director, Hall served as the director of the

Joyce Foundation The Joyce Foundation is a non-operating private foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. As of 2025, it had assets of approximately $1.24 billion. Former U.S. President Barack Obama served on the foundation's board of directors from 1994 through ...

Culture Program. She also served as Chicago's Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. In libraries, Hall was vice president of the Queens Public Library and assistant dean of the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She was the director of the Office for Diversity for the American Library Association from 2003 to 2006. Earlier in her career, she worked at the

Seattle Public Library The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the ci ...

and Hartford Public Library and run a homeless shelter in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. In the private sector, she worked as community investment strategist at

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

’s Global Corporate Citizenship Division. Hall is founder and curator of Rootwork Gallery, an experimental arts space in Chicago founded in 2016. She has served as a visiting curator at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

and a visiting professor at

Southern Connecticut State University Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply "Southern") is a public research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, and the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

. A poet and playwright, Hall was a Cave Canem Foundation fellow. On October 5, 2023, the American Library Association (ALA) announced Hall's resignation. Hall had been executive director since 2020, leading the Association through the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023-2024 Hall is visiting fellow at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a member institution of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departmen ...

, researching the impact of

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

on public libraries in the United Kingdom. In Fall 2024 Hall will be Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the University of Washington Information School.

Publications and presentations

Tracie D. Hall has written about community transformation, the digital divide, community

disinvestment Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in ...

, the right to read for the incarcerated, and eradicating information poverty. She has written foundational work on the need for diversity in the library profession. Hall has been a frequent speaker at scholarly conferences. She gave the Bobinski Lecture at the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

in 2022: "The urgency of information equity." In 2022 she was also keynote at the

Connecticut Library Association The Connecticut Library Association (CLA) is a professional organization for Connecticut's librarians and library workers. It is headquartered in Belchertown, Massachusetts. It was founded on February 23, 1891, in New Haven, Connecticut, with the ...

: "Information Redlining: The Role of Libraries in Disrupting the Growing Socioeconomic Divide." Hall presented the keynote lecture at the United Kingdom Library Association in 2020: "Information Redlining: The Urgency to Close the Socioeconomic Divide and the Role of Libraries as Lead Interveners." In 2009 Hall keynoted at the

International Federation of Library Associations The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is an international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals. A non-governmental, not-for-profit organization, IFLA ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy: "The 10 Ways Visionary Librarianship Can Change the World." Writing in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine in 2023 Hall quoted Senator

Wendell Ford Wendell Hampton Ford (September 8, 1924 – January 22, 2015) was an American politician from Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Governor of Kentucky from 1971 to 1974, and as a member of the United States Senate for 24 ye ...

: "If information is the currency of democracy, then libraries are its banks."

Awards and honors

*2004.Mover and Shaker Award from ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' in 2004. *City mayor Eddie Perez designated February 13 "Tracie Hall Day" to acknowledge her service to community of

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. *2022. The

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

announced Hall as the winner of the 2022 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. *2023. Hall named 100 most influential people in the world by ''

'' magazine. *2023. Hall in the "Forbes 50 Over 50: Impact List" as a warrior for the freedom to read. *2023.

Roosevelt Institute The Roosevelt Institute is a liberal American think tank headquartered in New York City. History and overview The Roosevelt Institute was created in 1987 through the merger of the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four ...

honored Hall with the 2023 Freedom of Speech and Expression Award.Roosevelt Institute. Four Freedom Awards
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION: Tracie Hall, Executive Director, American Library Association.
2023.

References

External links

About Books with Tracie Hall of the American Library Association
CSPAN {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Tracie D. American librarians American women librarians Living people 1968 births 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Yale University alumni University of Washington alumni Dominican University (Illinois) faculty American Library Association people African-American librarians American women academics