Metrolina Library Association records

Collection

Identifier: MS0238

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised of the official records of the library associations of the Mecklenburg area since the early 1960s. These include 1) the Charlotte Trade Area Public Library Association, 2) the Charlotte Area Library Association, 3) Charlotte Area Libraries, 4) Charlotte Area Academic Librarians, 5) Mecklenburg Citizens for Better Libraries, 6) the Mecklenburg Library Association and 7) the Metrolina Library Association. The organization that outlasted all the others was the Metrolina Library Association, and the records were carefully divided according to organization. The collection includes minutes, financial records, correspondence, membership information and a variety of additional records about the MLA. One of the noteworthy records found in this archive is the Archives Policy, adopted on January 14, 1988 by the Metrolina Executive Board, is that the archival records for the MLA will be held at Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte. Another item of interest is a memo (dated January 11, 1993), sent by Robin Brabham, the director of the UNCC Special Collections, in which he provides instructions to the MLA on what type of records the Special Collections would like to keep for the MLA institutional archives.

Dates

Creation: 1961 - 2012

Creator

Metrolina Library Association (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Historical Note

Since the early 1960s there have been a variety of associations in the Mecklenburg area that have served the interests of libraries and librarians. These were the Charlotte Trade Area Public Library Association, which formed in 1965, followed by the Charlotte Area Library Association a year later. Then came the Charlotte Area Libraries in 1967. Another organization, the Charlotte Area Academic Librarians, formed in 1969. Mecklenburg Citizens for Better Libraries existed between 1969 and 1972, though its connection with the other organization is not entirely clear. Records for the Mecklenburg Library Association date back to 1961, and for the Metrolina Library Association, the earliest existing records date to 1965.

While the first five associations fell by the wayside over the years, two emerged as the dominant organizations. These were the Mecklenburg Library Assocation and the Metrolina Library Association. As time went on, it became apparent that the interests of these two organizations (as well as many of their members) were the same, and merging the two organizations was simply a matter of time. The official merger took place during a special organizational meeting in October of 1986. The arrangement of records in this collection mirrors this history and the files are divided by this historic milestone.

Extent

3 Linear Feet

474.9 Megabytes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Records of the Metrolina Library Association, an association open to anyone affiliated with or interested in libraries in the twelve-county "Metrolina" area that includes Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, and Union counties in North Carolina and York and Lancaster counties in South Carolina. Contains official records of the association, which merged with the Mecklenburg Library Association in 1986 and retained the name of the former. Includes minutes, financial material, correspondence, membership information, and more.

Arrangement

The arrangement of these records closely mirriors the structure of the organizations of this collection. There are eight series in this collection; the first seven of which are records that come from library associations in the Mecklenburg area since 1961. Following the series of association records are the organizational records. These include such things as minutes of meetings (both of the general memberships as well as for board meetings), membership records, treasurers’ records, committee records, and newsletters. In addition, the more predominant organizations also have more extensive files of records for such things as program announcements, and issues that directly affect librarians (such as copyright). The eighth series concerns awards for outstanding women in the Mecklenburg area, such as the Woman of the Year Award, the awards for Outstanding Women Who Work, Salute to Women Who Work, and Outstanding Career Women. The Mecklenburg Library Association and the Metrolina Library Association are two of the organizations that made nominations for these awards, and in some cases, members of these two organizations were also award recipients. Concerning the dating of the records—while most of the records are clearly dated, others are not. Oftentimes, when MLA officers and committee leaders recorded their activities or planned for future events, they only included the month and date—frequently leaving out the year. This made the chronological arrangement difficult. Many of the files contain records whose dates are either unclear or unknown. Even the use of a perpetual calendar does not entirely solve the problem, as there is a variety of possible dates. For these reasons, not all of the files are accompanied with dates in the container list. Lastly, these files have not been numbered, because future accessions are expected. As records are added to this archive, the number of files is expected to grow and new file titles will inevitably be added.