DCLA's 2024 ALA Presidential Candidates Forum

All are invited to participate in a free, virtual forum on Tuesday, February 13, at 5:00 PM Eastern to get to know the candidates standing for ALA president in the 2024 election. The forum will be facilitated by DCLA President Kevin Washburn and DCLA Secretary Leah Richardson. DCLA members standing for election across ALA this year are also invited to participate. Please reach out to secretary@dcla.org if you are interested in participating as an ALA candidate in the forum. Register here.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions during the live Q&A or submit questions in advance using this form: 

https://bit.ly/dclaforumquestions

Questions can be submitted via the form until Tuesday, February 13 at 3 PM Eastern.

About the candidates

Raymond Pun (he/him) is the academic and research librarian at the Alder Graduate School of Education, a teacher residency program in California, where he supports library services by engaging with teachers, teacher educators and graduate students. Ray holds a Doctorate in Education from Fresno State, a Master of Library Science from the City University of New York - Queens College, a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. John's University. Ray is an active member of the American Library Association and served as the Past President of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) and the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA). 

Sam Helmick (they/them) is the Community & Access Services Coordinator for Iowa City Public Library. Sam is responsible for the teams providing Help Desk, Bookmobile, Public Relations, and Marketing services. Sam is a Social Media Marketing, Management, Leadership, Privacy, Intellectual Freedom, and Outreach author and consultant. Sam has served as an ALA Executive Board member, ALA Councilor, Iowa Chapter President, President-Elect for the Intellectual Freedom Round Table, and chair for the Iowa Governor’s Commission of Libraries. They have read for the RUSA Sophie Brody, YALSA Printz, and RainbowRT Stonewall Book Award Committees. Sam served in the third cohort of Library Freedom Project and as a 2022 PeMento member.