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

Series 1. Executive Board
The Executive Board of the New England Library Association (NELA) is comprised of the elected officers, the chairs of NELA sections and committees, representatives from state library associations, and an Executive Secretary responsible for the operation of the main NELA office and the maintenance of the organization's records. Since the 1960s the Board has been guided by an advisory council which later developed into an Administrative Committee comprised of the President, Past-President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, two Directors, and the Executive Secretary.

The Executive Board establishes the long-term objectives of the organization, manages its funds and property, approves and oversees the development of sections and committees, appoints independent contractors (the Executive Secretary, Newsletter Editor, and Conference Manager), and selects the time and place of the annual conference. The Administrative Committee sets the agenda for Board meetings and conducts the business of the organization. Both the Board and the Administrative Committee meet several times annually, generally alternating bimonthly.

The Executive Board series primarily consists of records kept by the recording Secretary, which include the typed minutes of Executive Board meetings as well as scattered section and committee reports, financial statements, by-laws and procedure manuals, and materials relating to conferences and special programs. From 1938 to 1966 the records were kept in a set of "Secretary's Books," with minutes, conference programs, and newspaper clippings kept in chronological order for each year. These records have been removed from their binders and placed in folders maintaining this original arrangement. Later Secretaries' binders continued this chronological arrangement, but some years included separate sections for various offices and committees. These sections have been placed in folders and filed with the minutes for their respective years, preserving the original arrangement of the binders. In general, NELA Secretaries tended to include committee and financial reports with the minutes from the meetings at which they were presented, with all records arranged by meeting date. However, not all minutes are accompanied by a complete set of reports and supplemental materials. Researchers are advised to also check both the Secretary's Records and the Executive Board Files in this series. Also, since many of NELA's Sections and standing Committees maintained records of Executive Board meetings and activities, additional information may be found in the Sections and Committees series.

Within the records of the 1980s the Secretary's binders are supplemented by a number of folders which have been labeled "Executive Board Files." These files contain materials that may have been used by the President or other member of the Administrative Committee, including copies of Executive Board meeting minutes and agendas, (many with handwritten notes), some committee and section reports, and various materials pertaining to conferences and programs. The folders are arranged by date and the materials within them have been placed in chronological order. In addition to these general files, there are a number of folders containing what appear to be the records of the NELA President, including copies of committee, conference, and financial reports, notes, and correspondence pertaining to a variety of business. These folders have been labeled "President" and the materials within the folders have been arranged in chronological order. There is also one folder containing records from a past Director, Mary Ann List.

The records for the years 1992-2001 were contained in two binders labeled "Executive Board/Administrative Committee Minutes." These binders contain fairly complete sets of minutes for both Executive Board and Administrative Committee meetings as well as many committee and financial reports. These materials have been placed in folders labeled "Minutes and Reports" and arranged in chronological order.

In addition to the general Executive Board files, the records include a number of files pertaining to subjects related to the function of the organization and its activities. Particularly in the 1980s, folders were kept for each of NELA's Sections and standing Committees, containing scattered samples of membership lists, program materials, and reports that were submitted to the Executive Board. Other topics include financial reports, evaluations of the NELA newsletter, the hiring of the Executive Secretary and independent contractors, various versions of the Board's policy and procedure manual, and records pertaining to the New England Library Leadership Conference (formerly known as Counterparts). Correspondence and membership lists are available for a limited number of years, and researchers should be aware that similar materials may be found in the Secretary's records, the general Executive Board Files, and in the Sections and Committees series. A brief history of NELA from 1938 to the mid-1970s was completed circa 1977, providing insight into the development and early goals of the organization (Box 3, folder 36).

Folders are in alphabetical order with materials arranged chronologically within each folder, with the exception of portions of the Secretary's Records which are filed chronologically in the original order of the binders.

No records exist in this series for the years 1990-1991.

Series 2. Sections
NELA members develop Sections to share information and explore topics of mutual interest, generally focusing on specific types of libraries or pertinent issues in library services. Sections receive financial and administrative support from the NELA Executive Board, present reports to Board meetings, and offer programs at annual NELA conferences. NELA Sections also maintain independent organizational structures, with their own officers, bylaws, and meetings. Several Sections offer workshops and events in addition to the annual conference programs, often in conjunction with other organizations in their areas of interest. These activities provide a broader context in which to understand the involvement of NELA members in a variety of fields.

This series contains the records of seven NELA Sections, some of which are no longer active or have changed names or emphases over the years. The records have been arranged alphabetically by each Section's most recent name, though earlier incarnations are indicated in the folder titles. The Sections include the Academic Library Section, dealing with the concerns of librarians in university and research libraries; the Hospital Library and Institutional Libraries Sections, which address the needs of librarians working in medical libraries and other institutional settings, ranging from prisons to mental health facilities; the Media Section, dealing with issues concerning the use of audiovisual materials and other forms of media in libraries; the New England Library Support Staff Association (formerly the Paraprofessional Information Special Interest Group (PSIG)); and the New England Library Trustee Association (NELTA), which included members of boards from various kinds of libraries. Of particular note is the Information Technology Section (ITS), which was formed by the merging of the New England Library Association Microcomputers Users Group (NEMICRO) and the Media Section in 1996. NEMICRO records have been filed with the ITS folders, while the Media Section records appear as a separate Section. A limited number of records pertaining to these and other Sections can be found in Series I, Executive Board. A set of photographs from the Media Section's 1989 Spring Conference were moved to Series V, Photographs.

The kinds of materials found in the records of each Section include the minutes of Section meetings and general correspondence (often designated as "Section Business"), planning materials for conference programs and workshops, evaluations of Section activities, flyers and other printed materials publicizing Section events, and membership information. In addition, most of the Sections maintained records pertaining to NELA Executive Board activities, primarily consisting Executive Board meeting minutes annotated by Section members. Because of the relatively independent organizational structures of NELA Sections, the files reflect a variety of record-keeping arrangements. Generally, the files are arranged alphabetically by subject within each Section and chronologically within each subject. The one exception is the Academic Section, in which the records have been retained in the order in which they appear in the binders maintained by the Section secretaries. The records have been removed from their original folders and binders and the materials arranged chronologically within each folder.

Series 3. Committees
There are a number of standing Committees that oversee the various activities of NELA, from arranging and managing the annual conferences, to administering educational assistance grants, to developing and revising the bylaws. This series contains the records of three of these committees, the Conference Committee, the Conference Site Selection Committee, and the Publications Committee.

The Conference Committee is responsible for the preparation and direction of NELA's Annual Conference. Its duties include arranging the site, programs, and speakers for the event, and managing the conference finances. The records found in this series include printed programs, registration forms, and information about the various hotels used as conference sites. Some years also include lists of attendees and exhibitors, correspondence with various presenters, floor plans, financial records, and the results of conference evaluations. Photographs from the 1993 Annual Conference are available in Series V, Photographs. The printed programs are particularly useful for information about speakers, trends in library services, and awards granted at the conference, such as the Horn Book Award for children's literature.

The Conference Site Selection Committee conducted a review of conference locations in the 1970s. The records of this committee include membership surveys regarding the conference site and comparative studies of various hotels and convention centers in the New England area.

The records of the Conference Committee are arranged chronologically by conference date, with folders within each conference date arranged alphabetically by subject. Note that between 1984 and 1987 the Annual Conference was a joint event between NELA and the New England Educational Media Association (NEEMA). The records for this period contain information about this collaboration, including a history of the joint conferences written in 1987 by the Conference Manager (Box 27, folder 54). The Conference Site Committee records are arranged chronologically.

The Publications Committee oversees the production of the NELA newsletter, New England Libraries, and maintains the NELA web site. In addition, the Committee assists in the selection and evaluation of the Newsletter Editor and the Web Manager, manages the publications budget, and maintains the NELA Publication Guidelines. The records in this series include annual reports of the committee, budget information, minutes of committee meetings, various versions of the NELA Publications Guidelines, and searches, contracts, and evaluations of the Newsletter Editor, Assistant Editor, and Web Manager. The records reveal much about the evolution and operation of the committee, particularly through the inclusion of copious email correspondence with the Annual Report of 1997-1998 (Box 27, folder 63). The records are arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically within each subject. A partially complete set of newsletters can be found in Series IV, Newsletters.

For all three committees, the records have been removed from their original folders and arranged chronologically within new folders

Series 4. Newsletters
NELA began publishing a bimonthly newsletter for its members in January of 1969. Shifting briefly to a quarterly publication schedule in 1970, the NELA Newsletter returned to its previous frequency in 1973. The publication underwent several changes in design and focus, most notably when the title was changed to New England Libraries in June of 1991.

This series contains nearly complete runs of the the NELA Newsletter from 1976 to 2001, with omissions indicated below. Scattered issues from 1972-1975 are also included.

Due to changes in format, volumes of the newletter are housed in boxes according to size. Volumes 4-7 (1972-1976) and vol. 29, no.2 through volume 33 (1997-2001) are located in Box 29, while volumes 9 through 29, no. 1 (1977-1997) are in oversize Box 30.

Series 5. Photographs
This series consists of one photo album and several separate groupings of photographs that were taken at various events, primarily conferences.

The photographs in the photo album are only partially identified with inscriptions on the back of certain photographs. These inscriptions indicate that the photographs were taken between 1974-1975, most likely at an annual conference.

The groupings of photographs include two photographs of NELA and ALA officers at the 1968 Annual Conference, featuring NELA President-elect Genevieve Galick, incoming Vice President John McKenna, Directors Arthur Kissner and Richard Coombs, Secretary John Jackson and ALA President Robert McDonough. A photograph of Christine Kardokas at the Vermont Librarians Conference is identified by a note accompanying the print, but no date is specified. A set of 47 black and white and color photographs and negatives from the Media Section's Spring Conference of 1989 was moved from the Media Section files in the Sections series. Another set of photographs documenting activities at the 1993 Annual Conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Burlington, Vermont was moved from the Conference Committee files in the Committees series so they could be housed with the other photographs in the collection.

The folders in this series are arranged chronologically by date where possible. The photo album follows the separate groupings of photographs.