In
the spring of 1937, a group of librarians met informally to consider
some of the problems common to small libraries in Westchester County.
Led by Ann J. Rymer of the Scarsdale Public Library, they discussed
questions of practice and the possibility of broadening library
services through the creation of a union catalog thus allowing for
interlibrary loan. County-wide publicity of library events was also on
the agenda. The participants recognized early on that any effective
system for initiating these proposals would call for the action of an
organization broader in reach than that of the small number represented
at their meetings. It was decided that letters would be sent to all
public librarians in the County to determine whether or not there was
any interest in the formation of such an organization. Within a year,
the Westchester Library Association was established. Within five years,
the Westchester Library Association had successfully created a union
catalog initially underwritten by a pledge of one percent of each
participating library's book budget for the year 1941. Interlibrary
loan soon followed.
Many
years have passed since that first small group of County librarians
met, yet the reasoning behind the formation of the Westchester Library
Association remains the same. The need for the creation of informal
groups to meet to discuss problems common to libraries of similar size
and location and the creation of a larger forum for all librarians to
meet together once or twice a year, when the work of the smaller group
could be correlated and problems common to all libraries could be
considered has remained constant. A look at conference workshops
offered over the years attests to the changes in our profession brought
on by technology. The inclusion of school, academic, and special
libraries has allowed WLA to consider a wide array of library issues
relevant to its membership. While the forum has not changed, the topics
of conversation have. We look forward to the twenty-first century
guided by the same high principles established in 1937 of exemplary
library services to the people of Westchester County.
Last modified on 08/02/2006 by the WLA Web Administration Committee