New Members Round Table (NMRT) | The American Library Association Archives

The Junior Members Round Table (JMRT) held its first informal meeting at the AlA Conference in New Haven, Connecticut in 1931 (1). Its primary purpose was to organize social meetings and to hold a Round Table devoted to issues of particular interest to members of the ALA who were under thirty years of age (2). In 1933 the membership age limit was raised to 35 (3). The Junior Members Round Table continued to meet informally until 1941, when a constitution was introduced and approved with a few minor changes, and by-laws were proposed (4). In 1942 several amendments to the constitution were made, and the by-laws, slightly modified from the 1941 version, were adopted (5). The requirements for membership in and the government and purposes of the Junior Members Round Table in 1941 were:

1. To help the individual member to become orientated to the profession and to encourage membership participation in its organizations, national, state, and local.

2. To promote a greater feeling of responsibility for the development of library service and librarianship.

3. To assist actively in the recruitment of qualified persons for the profession.

Membership in NMRT (New Members Round Table) is currently limited to members of ALA who have served in the profession less than ten years. The NMRT is governed by an executive committee composed of the president, the vice-president/president-elect, the treasurer, the secretary, the past president, and the chairpersons of the standing committees; the Round Table also has a board of directors. Its publications include the quarterly Footnotes (formerly Newsnotes, 1966-71) and Cognotes (1972- ), published during ALA's Annual and Midwinter conferences (7).

1. ALA Bulletin, September 1931, p. 552.

2. Ibid.

3. ALA Bulletin, September 1933, p. 722.

4. ALA Bulletin, September 1941, pp. 108-113.

5. ALA Bulletin, September 1942, pp. P-99.

6. ALA Handbook of Organization 1979-80, p. 66.

7. Ibid.