The American Library Association has announced that it will confer an honorary lifetime membership—the association's highest honor—to publishing executive and stalwart library advocate Skip Dye.
Dye is SVP of Library Sales and Digital Strategy and SVP of Sales Operations at Penguin Random House, where he has worked for some three decades, including his time prior to Penguin and Random House's 2013 merger. In a release, ALA officials said they were honoring Dye for "his longstanding support to America’s libraries and to intellectual freedom."
Dye will receive his award in June at the opening session of the ALA's Annual Conference, set for June 26-30 in Philadelphia. The honor, which must be recommended by the ALA Executive Board and approved by the ALA Council, honors a living person who has made "a lasting impact on libraries and the communities they serve."
Notably, Dye appears to be the first publisher since H.W. Wilson in 1945 to receive the honor, and the only major trade publisher to receive the award in its history, dating back to 1879.
He joins an impressive list of luminaries who have received the award, including Dolly Parton (2023); Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden (2018); U.S. Senator Jack Reed (2012); Bill and Melinda Gates (1998); Oprah Winfrey (1997); Paul Simon (1996); U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1994); and former First Lady Barbara Bush (1990).
In announcing the award, ALA officials praised Dye for being a powerful advocate for libraries, authors, and readers, and a leader in fighting for the freedom to read, actions which also earned Dye a spot among Publishers Weekly's 2024 people of the year. Among his achievements, Dye leads PRH's Intellectual Freedom Task Force, which has been instrumental in rallying the publishing community to fight against book bans.
Dye has also been an strong supporter of ALA, and in 2016, joined the board for United for Libraries, a division of ALA that supports advocacy and fundraising efforts for libraries, for which he also served as president. He currently serves as chair of the ALA's Public Partner Steering Committee, which recently unveiled its new public supporter program.
