We. All. Belong.

For our conference issue, we stole this issue’s theme from #WLA2024: “We All Belong”. As I am sure you already know, it’s a motto that is so much easier said than realized. Yet, in putting together this issue, I’ve also come to appreciate the breadth of ideas and possibilities it can inspire. Each part of that motto—we, all, and belong—offers a different way of perceiving and, thus, enacting our commitment to the ideal. I see the articles within this issue speaking to those different ways of seeing.

Some of the pieces in this issue emphasize the “we”—that sense of being a part of a community or the challenges that come with maintaining it. Jennifer Ashby traces how building strong partnerships can better support a rural library community. Kat Wyly and Jessica Widmer share how the WLA mentorship program can strengthen our communal growth. This issue also captures how our community fits into a broader context. Steven Bailey provides an update from the larger ALA community. Carolyn Logue’s synthesis of this year’s Washington legislative session outlines new policies and upcoming struggles in the work to promote belonging in Washington libraries.

Other pieces are more dedicated to the “all” part; these pieces take on the difficult work of confronting the limitations of our communities and challenge us to see who or what is missing in our “all.” Sometimes that work is about redefining a narrow scope. David Luftig and Emily Cukier, for example, take a critical look at the under-researched field of private UFO archives. Others address the exclusionary practices, policies, and mindsets that libraries must face to live up to this issue’s theme. Lex Van Horn provides practical guidance on how to make library resources more accessible online. Turning the focus to how libraries support our 2SLGTBQIA+ communities, Troi Gale reflects on the lifesaving import of inclusive work in rural libraries. On a similar note, Jenna Zarzycki’s recommendations speak to how libraries can help patrons not only find community through reading but also imagine worlds without threat or exclusion.

Then, there are those pieces that grapple with the last piece of the motto. They focus on what “belonging” can mean or how it might look. Sarah Logan asks what it means to find belonging in a politically polarized landscape. Eve Datisman’s recommendations illustrate diverse expressions of mutual support, exploring how different books can help us rethink what it means to commit ourselves to belonging in an interconnected world. Finally, Neil McKay wraps up our issue with a unique, happy picture of what belonging in a library can look like.

“We All Belong” certainly isn’t easy. I hope this issue captures some of the many ways we can see ourselves and our libraries as taking an active part in the ongoing work of realizing this ideal. I hope, too, that Alki continues to assist in that struggle: by supporting our library community, by redefining our sense of who belongs in libraries and library journals, and by providing a place to reimagine what it means to belong in Washington libraries.

Jenny Van Houdt is Alki’s editor-in-chief and works at WSU’s Health Sciences Library. She likes reading, cats, and how those two things go together.