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Sam Helmick
American librarian From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sam Helmick is the 2025–2026 president of the American Library Association.[2] Helmick is community and access services coordinator at Iowa City Public Library.
Education and career
Sam Helmick earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Services from Iowa Wesleyan University and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences in 2012.[3][4]
They have served on committees for the United States National Library of Medicine, Stonewall Book Award, Young Adult Library Services Association, and Sophie Brody Award.[5]
Helmick was president of the Iowa Library Association in 2023 and chair of the Iowa Governor's Commission on Libraries.[6][7] As president of the Iowa Library Association, they wrote to newspapers in Iowa to support a library levy.[8]
Helmick has been active in speaking against Iowa legislation limiting library funding[9] and against book censorship.[10] Publishers Weekly highlighted Helmick's anti-censorship work in 2024.[11]
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American Library Association
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They served on the American Library Association Executive Board.[12] They were also previously chair-elect of the ALA's Intellectual Freedom Round Table and Freedom to Read Foundation.[13][5]
They were named by the ALA Council, in line with the organization's bylaws, as president-elect on July 23, 2024 after Raymond Pun stepped down in June 2024, and began serving as the ALA president in July 2025.[13][14][2] Prior to this, Pun has received 5,611 votes, while Helmick had received 2,778 votes during the organization's election in April 2024 for the next 2025-2026 ALA president.[15]
In August 2025, Helmick noted they are Republican, as the Trump administration aimed to withhold "some federal funding," telling Reuters "as a Republican myself, I would love to hear more from my team on this."[16] Prior to this, Helmick had been described, by the Sioux City Journal, in February 2024, as a Republican.[17]
As president Helmick writes for the Association's journal, American Libraries.
In an interview at with Paul Raushenbush on the podcast, The State of Belief, Helmick emphasized their presidential theme, “Our stories are worth sharing,” and highlighted the transformative power of libraries and the need for community involvement.[20]
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Personal life
Helmick is aromantic, asexual, and non-binary. They described themself, to Publishers Weekly, in April 2024, as the first "nonbinary, aromantic, asexual" president of the Iowa Library Association in the organization's history, and noted the organization's opposition to SF 496 in Iowa which aimed to ban books such as Gender Queer.[21]
References
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