New England Library Association (NELA) (Mss. Gr. 153)

Historical note

Officially chartered in 1963, the New England Library Association (NELA) is a regional organization whose membership represents a variety of interests in library issues. Consisting of the six New England state library associations (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) and numerous personal and organizational members from diverse sectors of the library community, NELA's stated objectives are to "initiate, plan and support regional activities; to encourage the exchange of ideas; to cooperate with regional and national agencies having related interests; and to stimulate library-related research in the region."

The organization grew out of the first Regional Conference of New England State Library Associations held in June 1938 at Equinox House in Manchester, Vermont. The success of this conference prompted the six state library associations to establish a permanent regional library association and to continue holding annual meetings. During the next annual conference at Wentworth-by-the-Sea in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Articles of Agreement were adopted and Heller C. Wellman, the Librarian of the City Library in Springfield, Massachusetts, was elected the first President of the New England Library Association.

The advent of World War II provided some impediments to the development of the organization. Wellman's duties on the Selective Service Board forced him to resign as NELA President in 1941. The difficulties of wartime travel prevented the association from holding another annual conference until 1946. Since the 1946 meeting in Swampscott, Massachusetts, NELA has sponsored either annual or biennial conferences in various locations in New England.

The early association was loosely organized, with no formal membership or dues schedule and little administrative structure beyond an elected Executive Board. The Board's primary role was to coordinate the conference programs of the various organizations who participated in the annual conferences. By the early 1950s, however, the NELA Board began to show interest in activities beyond conference planning, occasionally speaking out on public issues relevant to the library community. Many members expressed a desire for the organization to take a more active role in library affairs in the region, and as a result, a movement to formally incorporate NELA was started in 1953. Despite some initial resistance to the increase in bureaucracy and broadening of purpose that incorporation would entail, a revised constitution and a set of by-laws were presented for consideration at the 1962 Annual Conference. These new policies and procedures implemented a formal dues schedule, set policies for the development of sections and committees, established an advisory council, and authorized the appointment of an Executive Secretary to manage the business of the organization. On January 18, 1963, articles of incorporation were signed in Massachusetts. Within one year of the acceptance of the new structure, NELA grew to 900 members.

The new constitution allowed NELA to greatly broaden the scope of its activities through the establishment of several formal sections and committees within the association. These entities undertook the development and management of programs, events, and publications to provide support and information about a wide array of interests and concerns, from bibliography to information technology to service to the institutionalized. Among the innovations implemented through this enlarged scope was the establishment of a bimonthly newsletter for NELA members in 1969.

Dwindling membership in the 1970s prompted the association to re-evaluate its function and goals. The ad-hoc New Directions Committee was formed to promote discussion about NELA's organizational structure and its role in the library community. The recommendations arising from this dialogue resulted in a revision of procedures, particularly in regard to sections, that caused some specialized segments to lose their section status. However, the organization reaffirmed its mission to actively participate in library affairs in the region, taking a prominent role in regional initiatives such as the creation of the New England Library Board in 1972.

This organizational fine-tuning and regional collaboration continued in later decades, as the association sought new ways to efficiently manage its affairs and more effectively serve and support the library community. In the 1980s NELA established a leadership conference, "Counterparts Day", to promote collaboration among the executive boards of associations throughout New England. This event was broadened in more recent years as the "New England Library Leadership Conference," which is open to all interested members of the regional community. Other efforts to expand the services of the organization included the development of a web site in 1999-2000.

Information about the early history of NELA was taken from the draft of an article written by Mary A. McKenzie in 1974. The draft appears in this collection in Series I, Executive Board, Box 3, folder 36.