Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies
| Purpose | Professional library association |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL |
|
Executive Director
|
Susan Hornung |
| Website | [2] |
The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), which is the oldest and largest library association in the world.
In 1977 two ALA divisions, the American Association of State Library Agencies (founded in 1957) and the Health and Rehabilitative Library Services Division (founded in 1956 as the Association of Hospital and Institution Libraries) merged and took on the name ASCLA. The independent librarians joined ASCLA in 1998 when their ALA round table, Independent Librarians’ Exchange Round Table (ILERT), voted to merge with the division. In the election of 2017, the Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (FAFLRT) voted to merge into ASCLA. That merger will take place during 2017/18 and will be complete on August 31, 2018 (the end of ALA's fiscal year).
The Association of Hospital and Institution Libraries included the former Division of Hospital Libraries and the former Institution Libraries Committee. The Division of Hospital Libraries was established by Council in 1944, following a petition by 300 ALA members. The Division replaced the Hospital Libraries Round Table, and formed the beginnings of the new division, which was authorized by Council in June 1956.
The State Library Agencies Division became a division of ALA on January 1, 1957. It was created out of the Committee on State Library Agencies. The Committee on State Library Agencies had been established by the Executive Board, January 1950, with a charge to "outline a proposal for a study of state library agencies as a basis for setting standards and strengthening services." The officers of the National Association of State libraries constituted the Organizing Committee of the State Library Agencies Division.
In 1958 the National Association of State Libraries, founded in 1889, disbanded. Its membership merged with that of the American Association of State Libraries (AASL), a division of ALA since January 1, 1957. The State Library Agencies Division (SLAD) was founded on January 1, 1957 and in 1958 SLAD merged with the AASL to become the State Library Agency Division AASL changed its title to the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA).) ASCLA is responsible for functions pertaining to library services performed by state library agencies, specialized library agencies, and mutitype library cooperatives. It has the specific responsibility for:
ASCLA is governed by an Executive Committee and a Board. The Executive Committee includes the president, the vice-president/president-elect, the secretary, the past-president, and the ALA divisional councilor. The executive committee is responsible for management of the Association between Annual and Midwinter meetings of ALA. The Association executive director is an ex officio member of the Executive Committee. All decisions of the Executive Committee are reported to the Board of Directors.
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