Finding Aid for ALA Publications, 1876- | The American Library Association Archives

Title: ALA Publications, 1876-

ID: 13/2/14

Primary Creator: Publishing Services

Extent: 110.6 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by date of publication and alphabetically by author's name thereunder

Date Acquired: 01/17/1974. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Academic Librarians, Children's Librarians, Children's Services, Copyright Law, Documents Librarians, Education for Librarianship, Information Retrieval, Librarians, Library Employment, Library Organization and Management, Publications, Resource Description and Access (RDA), Storytelling, Student Workers

Languages: English

In 1886 the American Library Association established a Publishing Section to create a cooperative publishing program for librarians (1).  The program was to provide catalogs, indexes and bibliographies, and to undertake publishing projects that were not necessarily commercially feasible, but still of value to librarians (2).  By 1900 the ALA changed the name from the Publishing Section to the Publishing Board, and took steps to secure ALA committee status (3).  Two notable titles produced by the Publishing Board in the early part of the century were Booklist (1905-present) and ALA Bulletin (1907-1970, continued by American Libraries 1970-present) (4).  In 1920, as a result of the ALA constitution adopted that year, a standing ALA Editorial Committee replaced the Publishing Board (5).

The next forty years saw a steady increase in library science book publishing.  By 1966 the Editorial Committee could no longer efficiently manage its diverse requirements and responsibilities. To rejuvenate ALA's position in library science publishing, the ALA created a new Publishing Board in 1966.  Operating as an arm of the ALA Executive Board, the new Publishing Board centralized control over manuscript acquisition and editing, design and production, and in marketing (6).

The Publishing Board was concerned with matters of finance, policy, and INT, while the Editorial Committee maintained editorial control over nondivisional works.  Better coordination of editorial policy and financial administration was realized with the merger of the Publishing Board and the Editorial Committee at the ALA San Francisco Conference of 1975 (8).  Following the Conference the two bodies became known as the ALA Publishing Committee.  This ten-member ALA standing committee of Council, which governs over ALA Publishing Services, held its first meeting in October 1975 (8).  At present, ALA Publishing Services manages five principal activities: 1) Books and Pamphlets  2) Booklist  3) Central Production Unit  4) Library Technical Reports and 5) Reference/Subscription Book Reviews (9).

Academic Librarians
Children's Librarians
Children's Services
Copyright Law
Documents Librarians
Education for Librarianship
Information Retrieval
Librarians
Library Employment
Library Organization and Management
Publications
Resource Description and Access (RDA)
Storytelling
Student Workers

Repository: The American Library Association Archives

Accruals: 5/1/2002, 11/1/2003, 9/1/2005, 7/1/2006, 3/27/2009, 12/03/2009, 9/14/2010, 5/2/2011, 8/9/2011, 3/1/12, 7/12/2012, 2/13/2013, 4/9/2013, 9/9/2013, 10/30/2013, 4/2/2014, 6/20/2014, 11/25/2014, 3/17/2015, 3/20/2015, 6/12/2015, 8/12/2015, 9/16/2015, 5/25/2016, 7/14/2016, 12/9/2019, 10/13/2020, 11/19/2020, 2/23/2021, 5/20/2021, 12/13/2021, 2/18/2022, 4/18/2024

Finding Aid Revision History: 04/25/2023 - added boxes 105-107 and standardized formatting;

Other Note: 127 Pages

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/alasfa/1302014a.pdf

PDF finding aid for ALA Publications (13/2/14)