Cindy Hohl
{{short description|American librarian}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name = Cindy Hohl
| image = File:Cindy Hohl.jpg
| caption =
| birth_place =
| office = President of the American Library Association
| term_start = July 2024
| predecessor = Emily Drabinski
| successor = Sam Helmick
| nationality = American
| occupation = Librarian
| education =
}}
Cindy Hohl is a librarian at the Kansas City Public Library. In 2023, Hohl was elected as president of the American Library Association for the 2024–2025 term. She previously served as the president of the American Indian Library Association and currently serves as the treasurer of the Freedom to Read Foundation.
Early life and education
Cindy Hohl is a member of the Santee Sioux Nation of Nebraska.{{cite web |title=Kansas City Public Library's Cindy Hohl Elected to National Office |url=https://kclibrary.org/blog/kansas-city-public-library%E2%80%99s-cindy-hohl-elected-national-office |website=Kansas City Public Library |access-date=24 April 2023 |language=en |date=13 July 2020}}
Career in librarianship
Hohl worked in marketing and communications before transitioning to a career in librarianship, in part because of the encouragement of her husband, who is also a librarian. Her first position in a library was as a customer experience manager at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, where she worked from 2014 to 2017.
In April 2023, Hohl was elected as president of the American Library Association (ALA) for 2024–2025. After her election was announced, she discussed her intention to lobby against library defunding and book bans, which have significantly increased in the United States since 2021. Hohl is the second Native American to be elected president of ALA, after Loriene Roy.{{cite news |last1=Brooks IV |first1=Lawrence |last2=Kraske |first2=Steve |last3=Wilson |first3=Zach |title=The American Library Association has elected its first president from Kansas City |url=https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2023-04-14/the-american-library-association-has-elected-its-first-president-from-kansas-city |access-date=24 April 2023 |work=KCUR |date=14 April 2023 |language=en}}
From 2020 to 2021, Hohl was the president of the American Indian Library Association In that role she was a committee member on the Joint Council of Librarians of Color.{{cite web |last1=Diaz-Camacho |first1=Vicky |title=Students, Librarians and Bookstore Owners Push Back on Book Bans |url=https://flatlandkc.org/news-issues/students-librarians-and-bookstore-owners-push-back-on-book-bans%EF%BF%BC/ |website=Flatland |publisher=Kansas City PBS |access-date=24 April 2023 |date=16 September 2022}}
She is the co-chair of the Spectrum Scholarship Advisory Council, which recruits Black, Indigenous, and people of color to the library field. Hohl has co-chaired ALA's Working Group to Condemn White Supremacy and Fascism and has been a member of ALA's Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds Committee.{{cite web |title=ALA Committee on Diversity |url=https://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/ALA%20CD%2014%20Committee%20on%20Diversity%20Report_2.pdf |website=American Library Association |access-date=24 April 2023 |date=19 January 2022}}
Hohl is a board trustee and the treasurer of the Freedom to Read Foundation as well as serving as a standing member on the Indigenous Matters Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.{{cite web |title=Library's Cindy Hohl Elected to National, International Positions |url=https://kclibrary.org/blog/library%E2%80%99s-cindy-hohl-elected-national-international-positions |website=Kansas City Public Library |access-date=24 April 2023 |language=en |date=18 June 2021}}
American Library Association presidency
Hohl's first presidential column in American Libraries focused on the need to make sustainable decisions for the good of every living being.Hohl, Cindy. [https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2024/07/24/a-good-way-for-ala/ A Good Way for ALA: It's time to reaffirm our core values.] American Libraries July 24, 2024. Her November 2024 column, "We All Belong: A Change in Season Brings Inspiration and Action" celebrated Library Card Sign-Up Month.Hohl, Cindy. [https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2024/09/03/we-all-belong/ "We All Belong: A change in season brings inspiration and action."] American Libraries September 3, 2024.
Her January 2025 presidential column, "Our Winter Count: With the New Year, Let’s Honor Those who Protect the Human Spirit," reflected on the profession's aim to uplift humanity.Hohl, Cindy. [https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2025/01/02/our-winter-count/ Our Winter Count With the new year, let’s honor those who protect the human spirit] American Libraries. January 2025. Her March column, "Spectrum of Leadership: Finding Ways to Embrace Change—for Ourselves and Others" respected the resilience we gain by how we respond to changes. Hohl, Cindy [https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2025/03/03/spectrum-of-leadership/ "Spectrum of Leadership: Finding Ways to Embrace Change—for Ourselves and Others"] American Libraries, March 2025.
Hohl's presidential column in May 2025 was "Information Warriors, Unite" which asked librarians to defend access to accurate information for the public good.Hohl, Cindy. "Information Warriors, Unite." American Libraries. May 2025.
During Hohl's presidency the American Library Association brought a lawsuit to block the Trump Administration's dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. On May 1, 2025 a Federal Court issued a temporary restraining to halt the dismantling. [https://www.ala.org/news/2025/05/federal-court-halts-dismantling-federal-library-agency-ala-lawsuit Federal Court Halts Dismantling of Federal Library Agency in ALA Lawsuit] American Library Association, May 1, 2025.
Hohl's statement on the termination of Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden noted, "Dr. Hayden has exceeded the greatest expectations of the many advocates who endorsed her nomination in 2016, when ALA wrote that Dr. Hayden 'understands what a library at its best is and can be for every community of users – young and old, corporate and individual, rich and poor, "connected" or not – in our diverse and complicated country.' Cindy Hohl, [https://www.ala.org/news/2025/05/ALA-praises-service-dr-carla-hayden-decries-dismissal ALA praises service of Dr. Carla Hayden, decries “unjust dismissal” ] American Library Association, May 9, 2025.
References
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{ALA Presidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hohl, Cindy}}
Category:21st-century American women librarians
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Native American librarians
Category:Librarians from Kansas
Category:Presidents of the American Library Association
Category:Friends University alumni
Category:Wayne State University alumni
Category:Baker University alumni