Deborah Caldwell Stone, ALA's Stalwart Freedom to Read Advocate, Let Go in Cost Cutting Move
Caldwell-Stone's departure was part of a broader wave of job cuts announced this week as the ALA grapples with a financial shortfall and moves ahead with a recently adopted plan to modernize the association.
During a recent online town hall, ALA leaders revealed that the association's financial problems were worse than initially feared and prepared members for some painful cuts. This week, those cuts began to materialize, including the surprise departure of Deborah Caldwell-Stone, one of the nation's most prominent freedom to read advocates and the leader of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
"We are deeply grateful to Deborah Caldwell-Stone for her many years of leadership and dedication to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom," ALA spokesperson Raymond Garcia told Words & Money when asked about Caldwell-Stone's sudden departure. "Her voice has been instrumental in advancing the fight against censorship and defending access to information."
Garcia stressed that the ALA's "commitment to intellectual freedom" remains "unwavering" and said that the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom's work would continue under the leadership of Deputy Director Sarah Lamdan and "a full team of subject-matter experts within the Office for Intellectual Freedom who will continue to guide and represent ALA’s efforts in this vital area."
Still, several ALA members expressed shock at Caldwell-Stone's sudden departure. Caldwell-Stone, who joined ALA in 2000 and has served as director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom since 2018, is highly respected, and is certainly one of the most visible ALA leaders amid an ongoing, politically organized surge in book bans. Caldwell-Stone also served as executive director for the Freedom to Read Foundation an allied 501(c)(3) organization, which participates in freedom of speech and freedom of the press litigation.
Over her years at ALA, she has been a key policy advisor at ALA, working with ALA's member leaders on intellectual freedom issues, including book bans, and the USA PATRIOT Act and battles over internet filtering in the early 2000's.
Caldwell-Stone declined to comment.
Caldwell-Stone's departure, which multiple sources confirmed was a reduction in force move, was part of a broader wave of job cuts announced this week, and comes on the heels of several voluntary buyouts for ALA staff executed over the summer as the association grapples with a severe financial shortfall and moves ahead with a recently adopted plan to modernize the association.
ALA did not comment on the total number of job cuts, but sources said some 30 positions have now been eliminated this year, including the moves made over the summer.
“The American Library Association (ALA) recently made difficult but necessary workforce changes as part of its ongoing ALA Forward initiative to strengthen the organization for the future," Garcia told Words & Money, adding that the cuts were "guided by extensive assessments focused on long-term sustainability and alignment with ALA’s mission."
The moves come just weeks before the association's new executive director, Daniel Montgomery, is set to begin work in November, and ahead the association's 150th anniversary in 2026.
