LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS AND CM BS. The tirst convention of librarians was held in Yew York, September 15-17. 1833. with 53 delegates. !'he next was held in Philadelphia. October 441. 147n1, with 103 delegates. At the (dose. the American Library As,oeiation, of which the ohice) is promote the welfare of libraries in .1merien." lie gan its work. has grown steadily in scope and usefulness. It annual meetings alternate between East and West. usually from Boston to San Francisco, and from Montreal to New ()deans. its largest attendance is over I000. In intervals between meetings its work is carried on by the committees, the council of 32, or the executive board of 7. It has sections devoted to special interests. e.g. college, reference, State library, trustees. Its most important branch is the American Library Association Publishing Board. consisting of five members who have charge of preparing and publishing bibliographies and other specially needed library aids. Funds for this board were raised by small subscriptions till in 1992 Andrew Carnegie made a first large gift of $100,000. The Board publishes various in dexes and other helps to librarians. and annotated lists of the best books, for which George Iles has furnished the chief inspiration and most of the funds. Through it the experience of the library profes.ion on many matter- is focalized, formu lated, and made available to all. At the close of the first international conference of librarians, held in London, October 2-.', 1377, at which 22 Americans were present. the Library Association of the United Kingdom. later chartered as the Library Association, began its work. It holds annual meetings at central points in the three kingdoms, and its Council holds monthly meet ings in London. It gives much more attention to the antiquarian and historical side of library work than the American Association, whose ac tivities have been almost whollydirected to es tablishing new libraries, improving methods, reducing cost, and other directly practical ends.
The National Library Association of Austra lasia was founded in 1396. in 1900 the Verein Dentscher Bibliothekiire was founded in Germany, and in 1901 the Kansai Bunko Kyakai or Western Library Association was established in Japan with natal as its official organ. In half a dozen other • tries. notably Italy, France. and Den mark. growing interest in the modern library movement indicates early organization. The first State Library Association was organized in New York in 1890, followed rapidly by other States, till now nearly all have such organizations.
Interstate meetings are becoming more common, because they reach large numbers in certain sec tions unable to alTord time and cost of journeys to national meetings at distant points. New York holds an annual • Library Week ' for the North eastern States and Canada, the last full week in September, at Lake Placid Club in the Adiron dacks, which draws delegates from numerous other States. The Pennsylvania and New Jersey asso ciations for many years have held a joint meet ing, to which others are invited. at Atlantic City, N. J., for three days late in March. Another cen tral meeting-point is Madison, Wis., where some of the hest public-library work of the country has been done by the efficient State Commission.
In 1835 the New York Library Club, the first lo cal body devoted to library interests, was started. Chicago followed in 1391, and now local clubs are found in most of the large cities and are being established also for groups of counties where the need is felt for more frequent meetings and closer contact than is provided by the State associations.
While delegates from different countries fre quently attend national meetings. the distinctly international library conferences have been in London (1877), Chicago (1393), at the Colum bian Exposition, London (1SK). at the Queen's Jubilee. and at the Paris Exposition of 1900.