Progressive Librarians Guild

The Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG)[1] was founded in New York City in January 1990 by librarians concerned with the library profession's "rapid drift into dubious alliances with business and the information industry, and into complacent acceptance of service to an unquestioned political, economic and cultural status quo," according to the organization's statement of purpose.

The first issue was to be a contribution to the debate taking place within the American Library Association (ALA) in which the upper ranks of power in ALA were attempting to overturn the association's official support of the cultural boycott against apartheid institutions in South Africa.

The Guild annually bestows the Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize to library and information science students attending a graduate level program in the United States or Canada who submit a paper based on an aspect of the social responsibilities of librarians, libraries, or librarianship.

[19] In 2007 members of the Progressive Librarians Guild participated in the United States Social Forum (USSF) in Atlanta.

In homage to the USSF's statement on language accessibility, PLG's new banner read "Library" on one side and "Biblioteca" on the other for the Opening March that launched the first ever regional social forum in the United States.

The Braverman Prize honors Miriam Ruth Gutman Braverman (1920-2002), who was a socialist, writer, activist librarian, longstanding member of the Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG), and a founder of ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT).
Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize dinner 2017
Progressive Librarian Guild members preparing to march at the Atlanta Women's march on 1/21/2017. During Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association.