Association of American Library Schools

Association of American Library Schools. Founded in 1915, it was the first national organization dedicated to the advancement of education for the library profession in North America. The association provided a crucial forum for deans and faculty from member schools to collaborate on curriculum standards, accreditation, and research. Its evolution directly shaped the modern landscape of library and information science education, culminating in its 1983 transformation into the Association for Library and Information Science Education.

History

The association was established in 1915 during a meeting at the American Library Association conference in Berkeley, California. Key early figures included Charles Clarence Williamson, whose influential 1923 report for the Carnegie Corporation of New York underscored the need for standardized professional training. This report, often called the Williamson Report, catalyzed the association's early efforts to define core curricula and establish formal relationships with bodies like the American Library Association's Board of Education for Librarianship. For decades, the organization served as the primary collective voice for graduate programs, navigating periods of significant growth in higher education following World War II and responding to the challenges posed by the rise of information technology in the 1960s and 1970s.

Organization and governance

Governance was vested in an elected executive board, typically composed of deans from prominent member schools such as the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Michigan. Membership was institutional, requiring schools to meet specific criteria for curriculum and faculty qualifications to join. The association operated through various standing committees focused on areas like accreditation, research, and international relations, often coordinating closely with the American Library Association's accreditation processes. Annual meetings, frequently held in conjunction with the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, were the principal venue for policy debates and organizational decisions.

Activities and programs

A primary activity was sponsoring the Journal of Education for Librarianship (later renamed the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science), which became a leading scholarly publication for research on pedagogy and curriculum development. The association organized annual conferences featuring presentations from scholars like Jesse Hauk Shera and Margaret E. Monroe, fostering discourse on emerging trends. It also developed statistical reports on enrollment, faculty salaries, and graduation rates, providing vital data for the field. Collaborative projects with the Council on Library Resources and the U.S. Department of Education were undertaken to fund innovative teaching methods and research initiatives.

Impact on library education

The association played a definitive role in elevating library education to the graduate level, advocating successfully for the master's degree as the first professional credential. Its advocacy was instrumental in the formalization of accreditation standards through the American Library Association, influencing the curriculum at schools like the Columbia University School of Library Service and the University of Chicago Graduate Library School. By promoting rigorous research and doctoral programs, it helped establish library science as an academic discipline within universities, shaping the careers of educators and the development of future leaders for institutions like the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library.

Evolution into the Association for Library and Information Science Education

By the late 1970s, the expanding scope of the field, driven by computer science and information theory, necessitated a broader organizational identity. After extensive deliberation, members voted to reconstitute the association, leading to its formal dissolution and rebirth in 1983 as the Association for Library and Information Science Education. This change reflected the transformed landscape of programs at universities like the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Texas at Austin, which increasingly integrated information technology. The new association continued the legacy of its predecessor while explicitly embracing the interdisciplinary nature of the modern field.

Category:Library and information science organizations Category:Professional associations based in the United States Category:Educational organizations based in the United States