DCLA History: Past Presidents
| Term | President | Institution |
| 2019-2020 | Tracy Sumler | District of Columbia Public Library |
2018-2019 | Nicholas A. Brown | Washington Performing Arts |
2017-2018 | Candace Townsend | Library of Congress |
| 2016-2017 | Yvonne Dooley | Library of Congress |
| 2015-2016 | Julius C. Jefferson, Jr. | Library of Congress |
| 2014-2015 | Christina M. Bailey | Library of Congress |
| 2013-2014 | Amanda J. Wilson | National Transportation Library |
| 2012-2013 | Jacqueline Protka |
Corcoran College of Art and Design |
| 2011-2012 | Megan Shiels |
U.S. Department of State |
| 2010-2011 | Richard Huffine | U.S. Geological Survey |
| 2009-2010 | Angela Jaffee | Bureau of National Affairs / Social Security Administration |
| 2008-2009 | M-J Oboroceanu | Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service |
| 2007-2008 | Barbara Folensbee-Moore | Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP |
| 2006-2007 | Elaine Cline | U.S. Department of State |
| 2005-2006 | Kathryn Ray | American University |
| 2004-2005 | Noel Rutherford | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 2003-2004 | Jean Craigwell | Organization of American States |
| 2002-2003 | Andrea Morris Gruhl | Retired Federal Librarian 12/31/01 (GPO and LC) |
| 2001-2002 | Claudette Tennant | ALA Washington Office |
| 2000-2001 | Judy Solberg | George Washington University |
| 1999-2000 | Betty Landesman | AARP |
| 1998-1999 | Mary Augusta Thomas | Smithsonian Institution Libraries |
| 1997-1998 | Dennis Reynolds | CAPCON Library Network; American Medical Informatics Association beginning August 1, 1997 |
| 1996-1997 | Patricia A. Wand | The American University |
| 1995-1996 | Dan Clemmer | U.S. Department of State Library |
| 1994-1995 | Trellis C.Wright | Library of Congress |
| 1993-1994 | Sue Uebelacker | Prince George's County Memorial Library System |
| 1992-1993 | Hardy R. Franklin | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1991-1992 | Susan Fifer Canby | National Geographic Society Library |
| 1990-1991 | Doria Grimes | National Technical Information Service |
| 1989-1990 | Shirley Loo | Library of Congress, CRS |
| 1988-1989 | William Gordon | Prince George's County Memorial Library System |
| 1987-1988 | Molly Raphael | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1986-1987 | Jacque-Lynne Schulman | National Library of Medicine |
| 1985-1986 | Lelia Saunders | Arlington County Public Library |
| 1984-1985 | Lawrence E. Molumby | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1983-1984 | Darrell Lemke | Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area |
| 1982-1983 | Judith A. Sessions | Mount Vernon College |
| 1981-1982 | Martha Bowman | George Washington University |
| 1980-1981 | Murray Howder | ERIC Document Processing Facility |
| 1979-1980 | Nancy Gwinn | Library of Congress, CRS |
| 1978-1979 | Lilla Hammond | Georgetown University Library |
| 1977-1978 | Cathy Jones | George Washington University |
| 1976-1977 | Marilyn Gell | Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments |
| 1975-1976 | William L. Whitesides | Fairfax County Public Library |
| 1974-1975 | Wallace C. Olsen | National Agricultural Library |
| 1973-1974 | Paul L. Berry | Library of Congress Reference Department |
| 1972-1973 | Rupert C. Woodward | George Washington University |
| 1971-1972 | Mary A. Huffer | Smithsonian Institution; Department of Interior Libraries beginning 2/19/72 |
| 1970-1971 | Richard K. Burns | Falls Church Public Library |
| 1969-1970 | Elizabeth L. Tate | National Bureau of Standards |
| 1968-1969 | Alice Ball | U.S. Book Exchange |
| 1967-1968 | Edward M. Waters | Library of Congress Music Division |
| 1966-1967 | Elizabeth W. Stone | The Catholic University of America, Library School |
| 1965-1966 | Kenardy L. Taylor | Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare |
| 1964-1965 | Joseph W. Rogers | Library of Congress Copyright Office |
| 1963-1964 | Ruth Fine | Bureau of the Budget |
| 1962-1963 | Werner B. Ellinger | Library of Congress |
| 1961-1962 | George B. Moreland | Montgomery County Public Libraries |
| 1960-1961 | Eleanor R. Hasting | National Library of Medicine |
| 1959-1960 | Robert S. Bray | LC Division of the Blind and Physically Handicapped |
| 1958-1959 | Lucile Dudgeon | U.S. Information Agency |
| 1957-1958 | Marietta Daniels | Pan American Union, Columbus Memorial Library |
| 1956-1957 | Legare H. B. Obear | Library of Congress |
| 1955-1956 | Louise O. Bercaw | Department of Agriculture |
| 1954-1955 | Lucile M. Morsch | LC Deputy Chief Assistant Librarian |
| 1953-1954 | James J. Kortendick | Catholic University Department of Library Science |
| 1952-1953 | James J. Kortendick | Catholic University Department of Library Science |
| 1951-1952 | Helen Scanlon | Joint Library of the International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development |
| 1950-1951 | Helen Wessells | Department of State |
| 1949-1950 | Helen Wessells | Department of State |
| 1948-1949 | Scott Adams | Army Medical Library |
| 1947-1948 | Paul Howard | ALA National Relations Office Director |
| 1946-1947 | David J. Haykin | LC Subject Cataloging Division Chief |
| 1945-1946 | David J. Haykin | LC Subject Cataloging Division Chief |
| 1944-1945 | Helen T. Steinbarger | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1943-1944 | David C. Mearns | LC Director of the Reference Dept. |
| 1942-1943 | David C. Mearns | LC Director of the Reference Dept. |
| 1941-1942 | John Russell Mason | George Washington University |
| 1940-1941 | John Russell Mason | George Washington University |
| 1939-1940 | Elsie Rackstraw | Board of Governors/Federal Reserve System |
| 1938-1939 | Ralph L. Thompson | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1937-1938 | Adelaide R. Hasse | WPA |
| 1936-1937 | John T. Vance | Library of Congress Law Librarian |
| 1935-1936 | John T. Vance | Library of Congress Law Librarian |
| 1934-1935 | Isabel DuBois | Bureau of Navigation Libraries |
| 1933-1934 | Isabel DuBois | Bureau of Navigation Libraries |
| 1932-1933 | W. Taylor Purdum | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1931-1932 | Elizabeth O. Cullen | Bureau of Railway Economics |
| 1930-1931 | Elizabeth O. Cullen | Bureau of Railway Economics |
| 1929-1930 | Claribel Barnett | Department of Agriculture |
| 1928-1929 | Frederick W. Ashley | Library of Congress |
| 1927-1928 | Frederick W. Ashley | Library of Congress |
| 1926-1927 | Clara W. Herbert | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1925-1926 | Clara W. Herbert | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1924 | Miles O. Price | Patent Office |
| 1922-1923 | Dorsey W. Hyde, Jr. | U.S. Chamber of Commerce |
| 1921-1922 | Herbert Putnam | Librarian of Congress |
| 1920-1921 | Herbert Putnam | Librarian of Congress |
| 1919* | Theodore W. Koch | LC Order Division Chief |
| 1918** | William J. Hamilton | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1917 | William A. Slade | Library of Congress |
| 1916 | William A. Slade | Library of Congress |
| 1915 | Herman H. B. Meyer | LC Chief Bibliographer |
| 1914 | Herman H. B. Meyer | LC Chief Bibliographer |
| 1913 | Paul Brockett | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1912 | Paul Brockett | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1911 | William W. Bishop | LC Superintendent of the Reading Room |
| 1910 | William W. Bishop | LC Superintendent of the Reading Room |
| 1909 | William D. Johnston | Bureau of Education |
| 1908 | William D. Johnston | Bureau of Education |
| 1907 | George F. Bowerman | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1906 | George F. Bowerman | District of Columbia Public Library |
| 1905 | Cyrus Adler | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1904 | Thorvald Solberg | Registrar of Copyrights |
| 1903 | Thomas H. Clark | Library of Congress Law Librarian |
| 1902 | Thomas H. Clark | Library of Congress Law Librarian |
| 1901 | Francis A. Crandall | Superintendent of Documents |
| 1900 | Howard L. Prince | Patent Office |
| 1899 | Henry C. Bolton | Bibliographer |
| 1898 | Henry C. Bolton | Bibliographer |
| 1897 | William P. Cutter | Dept. of Agriculture |
| 1896 | Cyrus Adler | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1895 | Ainsworth Spofford | Librarian of Congress |
| 1894 | Ainsworth Spofford | Librarian of Congress |
* Mr. A.K. Blessing (DCPL) served as acting President from July to October after Mr. Koch left the city in the summer of 1919.
** Ethel Owens (Superintendent of Documents Office) served as acting President from April to November after Mr. Hamilton moved in the spring of 1918.
Eight DCLA Presidents have also served as President of the American Library Association (ALA):
- Herbert Putnam (Jan.-Aug 1898; 1903-1904)
- William Warner Bishop (1918-1919)
- Herman H. B. Meyer (1924-1925)
- Lucile M. Morsch (1957-1958)
- Elizabeth Stone (1981-1982)
- Molly Raphael (1987-1988)
- Hardy R. Franklin (1992-1993)
- Julius C. Jefferson, Jr. (2020-2021)
Six DCLA Presidents have also been President of the Washington Chapter of SLA:
- Shirley Loo (June 2005- December 2006)
- Susan Fifer Canby (2003-2004)
- Cathy Jones (1981-1982)
- Mary Huffer (1969-1970)
- Elizabeth Stone (1973-1974)
- Ruth Fine (1952-1953)
Three DCLA Presidents have also been President of the Washington Chapter of Beta Phi Mu:
- Andrea Morris Gruhl (2005-2006)
- Kathryn Ray
- Nicholas A. Brown (2018-2019)
The DCLA archives in the Washingtoniana Room at the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Library provided information about the Presidents. The list of Presidents from 1894 to 1954 is based on the list in Martha Seabrook's A History of the District of Columbia Library Association, 1894-1954, p. 90-91. Another list dated June 26, 1972 provided information on later Presidents. John Y. Cole in March 1974 did a list with other information. Research using past issues of Intercom and other sources furnished information from the 1970's to present.