The first annual meeting of the School Libraries Section was held in East Hall, University of California, at 9:30 Saturday morning, June 5, 1915, with an attendance of 250. In the opening meeting, the purpose of the section was outlined. "The school library being one of the great problems of library endeavor, it is fitting that there should be a section in the American Library Association devoted to the discussion of work with all classes of schools" (1).

The American Association of School Librarians (ASSL) is interested in "the general improvement and extension of library services for children and young people."

The American Association of School Libraries became a division of ALA on January 1, 1951. Formerly it was a section of the Division of Libraries for Children and Young People; and before 1941 it was the School Libraries Section of ALA organized in 1915 (2).