Congregational Libraries Today, Volume 50, Number 3, 2017 Page: Front Cover
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Church and Synagogue Library Association Records and was provided to UNT Digital Library by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
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SERVING CONGREGATIONAL LIBRARIES OF ALL FAITHS SINCE 1967F0a bIishcd 1%7
Church & Synagogue
Library Association irCSLAINFO.ORG I THIRD ISSUE 2017
Church and Synagogue Library Association to close
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Past President of the Church & Synagogue
Library Association and current Director of the
Library and Archives Department
at The National Presbyterian Church in
Washington, DC.
The end came on Sunday morning,
July 16, 2017, when the president of
the Church and Synagogue Library
Association, Marcia S. Trauernicht,
announced to the delegates gathered
for the opening session of the
50th Annual Conference that the
association would be shutting down
and cease operations by August 31 of
this year. President Trauernicht said
in her remarks that the increases in
costs of operations and the decrease
in membership were major factors
in the Board of Directors' difficult
decision to take this plan of action.
The organization was founded
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in
the summer of 1967 with Ruth
S. Smith and John F. Harvey
as leading proponents for the
group. Dr. Harvey was the Dean
of the Graduate School of Library
Science at Drexel University inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. Mrs.
Smith was the Head Librarian at
the U. S. government's National
Institute for Defense Analysis in
Washington, D.C. She also served
as the librarian at the Bethesda,
Maryland, Methodist Church and
was the founder and first President
of the Church Library Council
in the greater Washington D.C.
Metropolitan area (established
1961). That organization continues
to serve the greater Washington area
to this day.
At the organizing meeting of the
Church and Synagogue Library
Association, Mrs. Smith was elected
as the first President. During the
association's lifetime an annual
conference was held each year and
an official house organ, Church and
Synagogue Libraries, was published.
This journal was later renamed
Congregational Libraries Today.
Membership in the organization
reached its zenith around the turn- i
- - -
Six past presidents attended the 2017 conference and each was given
a long-stem yellow rose. From left they are: Marcia Trauernicht, Cheryl
Cutchin, Jim Theodore Anderson, Evelyn Pockrass, Dorothy Lewis and
Arthur Swarthout.When one door
closes, another
opens
The closing of the Church and
Synagogue Library Association
(CSLA) signals the end of an
era-an era which was rich with
opportunities for congregational
librarians throughout the United
States (and for a time also,
Canadian librarians). These
opportunities included gathering
together to exchange ideas and to
assist one another in their work
as congregational librarians.
While one national
organization has closed, other
opportunities for congregational
librarians can be developed. In
this age of electronic media,
the Internet, websites and a
host of other means of sharing
information, new groups can
form, continuing the original
purpose and goals of CSLA.
There are many possible
ways to stay in touch, including
putting together a group email
list of interested members.
Another suggestion is to rename
CSLA's Facebook page, possibly
using the name Congregational
Libraries Today, and maintain it
as a gathering forum. At the time
of this writing no official action
has been made regarding these
and other methods of continued
communication, but be proactive
and stay in touch!
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Church and Synagogue Library Association. Congregational Libraries Today, Volume 50, Number 3, 2017, periodical, 2017; Portland, Oregon. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc993035/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.