ArLA 2024 Annual Conference

The American Library Association (ALA) has tapped Kent Oliver as senior policy fellow for the Public Policy and Advocacy office to strengthen the association’s involvement in policy discussions related to First Amendment freedoms and intellectual property.
Kent Oliver mentors, coordinates and partners with members of the ALA Policy Corps to advance ALA’s advocacy on fighting book bans and to strengthen ALA’s Unite Against Book Bans campaign. Additionally, he will work with senior staff of ALA’s PPA Office, OIF, CMO and other units to speak out against book banning and censorship. Oliver recently retired after a decade as director of Nashville Public Library, where he launched the nationally recognized I Read Banned Books campaign. A three-time president of the Freedom to Read Foundation, Oliver is a nationally and internationally known speaker on library issues and challenges, including literacy and the freedom to read. His writings on intellectual freedom and defense of the First Amendment have appeared in publications such as Forbes and The Tennessean. Prior to his tenure at Nashville Public Library, Oliver also managed libraries in Kansas, Missouri and Ohio, where he was awarded the Ohio Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award for Defense of the First Amendment. Oliver hails from Topeka, Kansas, and has an MLIS from Emporia State University

Vendor Exhibit Hall Opening

Randy Hankins was born in 1950, and grew up in Warren, AR. Going by his stage name, Craig O'Neill has spent 50 years in the broadcast business, with the last 24 of those being at Little Rock, Arkansas’s THV11. O’Neill officially signed off for the last time as the news anchor on December 29, 2023.
Before TV, Craig had a successful radio career on KKYK and then B98.5, where he was famous for his prank phone calls. Eventually, O'Neill transitioned from a fun-loving radio personality to a respected TV news anchor. Craig has since interviewed Presidents and music icon Dolly Parton alike. He has danced on the Ellen DeGeneres show, announced Razorback football games, and emceed more than 9,000 charity events helping raise over 40 million dollars in Arkansas.
His passion project, and probably his retirement career, is reading to grade school children through AR Kids Read. He hopes to ignite some lifetime readers using his acting skills, infectious personality, and unforgettable voice.

Cindy Hohl, director of policy analysis and operational support at Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library, is the current 2024-2025 American Library Association (ALA) President. Her primary intention is to lobby against library defunding and book bans, which has. Hohl is the second Native American to be elected president of ALA, she is a member of the Santee Sioux Nation of Nebraska.
Hohl is past president of the American Indian Library Association and an active member of other ALA affiliates, including the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, Black Caucus of the ALA, Chinese American Librarians Association, and Reforma: the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking. As a member of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of ALA, she currently cochairs the Membership Advisory Group and was a member of the PLA Strategic Plan Review Team. Hohl is a member of several round tables, including the Intellectual Freedom Round Table, Library Research Round Table, and Social Responsibilities Round Table.

Auditorium A

Auditorium A