Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies


The Association of Specialized, Government, and Cooperative Library Agencies is a soon-to-be-defunct division of the American Library Association, which is the oldest and largest library association in the world. The ALA Council in June 2020 voted to dissolve ASGCLA and assign its components to other units within ALA.

History

In 1977 two ALA divisions, the American Association of State Library Agencies and the Health and Rehabilitative Library Services Division merged and took on the name ASCLA. The independent librarians joined ASCLA in 1998 when their ALA round table, Independent Librarians’ Exchange Round Table, voted to merge with the division. In the election of 2017, the Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table voted to merge into ASCLA. In the ALA elections of 2018, the name was voted to be changed from Association of Specialized, and Cooperative Library Agencies to implement the merger with the former Federal and Armed Forces Librarians Round Table.
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, a division of ALA since January 1, 1957. The State Library Agencies Division was founded on January 1, 1957 and in 1958 SLAD merged with the AASL to become the State Library Agency Division and AASL changed its title to the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies
In June 2020, the ALA Council voted to dissolve the division, effective September 1, due to the ALA's financial difficulties and ASGCLA's "falling membership and revenues."
ASGCLA 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:
  1. Synthesis of appropriate ALA unit activities with the development and evaluation of programs which extend and improve user services in state and specialized libraries and multitype library cooperatives.
  2. Representation and interpretation of the roles, functions, and services of these types of libraries within and outside the profession.
  3. Development of policies, studies, and activities relative to government funding, grants and appropriations, and inter-governmental relationships in matters which affect these types of libraries, coordinated with appropriate ALA unit archives.
  4. Establishment, evaluation, and promotion of standards.
  5. Identification of user needs, and the creation and promotion of services to meet those needs.
  6. Stimulation of the development and participation in appropriate type-of-activity divisions of librarians engaged in these types of libraries.
  7. Coordination of the activities of ALA units which have a bearing on the concerns of this association.
  8. Granting recognition for outstanding library service enacted.
  9. Disseminating information and stimulating publishing and research.
ASGCLA 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.
The Board of Directors consists of the officers, the ALA divisional councilor, and eight directors, five of whom are designated directors. The five designated directors represent the types of library organizations and agencies: state library agencies, library agencies and individuals who serve special populations, library cooperatives, armed forces libraries, federal libraries, and independent librarians.
The executive director and the editor of the Association publication serve as ex officio non-voting members of the Board. Other non-voting members may be appointed by the president, with approval of the Board of Directors.

Committees

ASGCLA has the following committees:
ASGCLA Interest Groups are virtual groups hosted on ALA Connect, the active online member community site of ALA. Each community comes together to share knowledge and enthusiasm for a specific subject and makes valuable contributions to ASGCLA and its core interests of strengthening the usefulness, efficiency and services of:

ASGCLA Presidents

The archives of ASGCLA are in the archives of the American Library Association, housed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.