From Dav Robertson, Chair, SLA Centennial Commission (with some added links):
2 July marks the 100th anniversary of
the founding of SLA. On that day in 1909, some 20 attendees at the ALA
annual conference met separately on the verandah of the Mt. Washington Hotel,
Bretton Woods, N.H.,
USA, to form SLA and adopt a constitution that defined
the "Object" as follows:
"The object of this
Association is to promote the interests of the commercial, industrial,
technical, civic, municipal and legislative reference libraries, the special
departments of public libraries, universities, welfare associations, and
business organizations."
(For more on the founding of SLA, see
Guy St. Clair's book SLA at
100, published by SLA for the Centennial.)
What were the founders thinking when
they chose to use the word "Special" in the name of SLA? From
John Cotton Dana's comments we know that the name was casually chosen in that
the members were all "doing some special work in libraries." We
also know that the founders wanted the new association to be inclusive, and in
fact, the association grew rapidly as information pioneers in a variety of
settings signed up.
Now that we are 100, we are
reconsidering the name of our association and the direction to take in
recruiting new members. We have the evidence provided to us by the
Alignment Project research, which shows that
"special" does not resonate with those we serve. We have the
evidence which shows that we can recruit information professionals who work
outside of "special libraries."
Upon the occasion of our centennial,
this is precisely the time when we should be acting on these issues. Urge
your colleagues to discuss the findings of the Alignment Project and what steps
SLA should take to promote the interests of information professionals in the
21st Century. Be prepared to vote on a name change later this Centennial
Year. Align in '09.
All the best,
Dav Robertson, Chair
SLA Centennial Commission