American Indian Library Association - History

History

The American Indian Library Association was officially established in 1979 as a result of the Indian White House Pre-Conference of 1978 on Indian Library and Information Services On or Near Reservations. This Pre-Conference took place in Denver, CO, and its focus was on the amelioration of library services and resources to American Indians. The individuals who attended the meeting represented a number of Indian tribes from different parts of the United States. The initial idea of such an organization began in the early 1970s, however. In 1971, at the ALA's Annual Conference in Dallas, TX, Lotsee Patterson, Charles Townley, and Virginia Matthews formed a Task Force on American Indians within the Social Responsibilities Round Table and held an initial meeting. Around the same time, the ALA Advisory Committee in the Office for Library Service to the Disadvantaged created the Committee on Library Service for American Indian People, in which Charles Townley served as the first chair. Additional issues that influenced the creation of the organization were the implementation of tribal libraries and changes in United States federal law that reflected the increasing concern regarding the inadequacy of library services to American Indians. The AILA held its first meeting as an individual entity in New York during the ALA's 1980 Annual Conference, its constitution was passed the following year during the Annual Conference in San Francisco and, in 1985, the ALA Executive Board finally approved the AILA as an affiliate during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL.