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Nickname | FLA |
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Formation | 1920 |
59-1159907 | |
Headquarters | Tallahassee, FL |
Leader | Jennifer Abdelnour, Executive Director |
Parent organization | American Library Association |
Website | www |
The Florida Library Association (FLA) is a regional, non-profit organization that promotes professional discourse and opportunities for the library community in Florida. [1] The FLA publishes the Florida Libraries Journal. [2]
The Florida Library Association began meeting in 1906, [3] but it was officially formed in 1920 by Helen Virginia Stelle, director of the Tampa Public Library. [4] [5] In addition to its publication, Florida Libraries , the FLA provides a forum for issues and advocacy. [1]
Prior to any formal organization, the first state-wide assembly of Florida librarians took place in December 1906 in St. Augustine. On April 26, 1920, the Florida Library Association was officially established. [ citation needed ]
The institution started out with 23 charter members whose primary goal was to embolden the state government, to establish a state library agency, and to endorse legislation that allowed for counties to establish their own libraries within their own communities. [6] They were successful in their efforts, and in 1925 the state library was established. In 1931 a county library law was sanctioned. The first chairman and then-president of the Florida Library Association was Helen Virginia Stelle. [6]
Each year since 1920, with the exception of 1943-1945 (due to WWII), the conference has taken place in various libraries throughout the state. This federation and assembly of Florida librarians have brought about progress in discourse, activism, and forward-thinking adaptations to the way libraries function throughout the state. [6] Themes which over its history have informed the FLA assembly, its mission, and its activism include “The Enlightened South” in 1966, “Threshold of a New Decade” in 1969, libraries as a “Renewable Resource” in 1986, and “Diverse Libraries to Serve Floridians” in 2000.
The 1935 Florida Library Survey statement demonstrates the FLA’s commitment to its mission by indicating that the organization “must take the lead to inform citizens of the desirability of library service to meet their practical and cultural needs.” [6]
Year | President |
---|---|
2024 | Jorge Perez |
2023 | Douglas Crane |
2022 | Shane Roopnarine |
2021 | Phyllis Gorshe |
2020 | Laura Spears |
2019 | Eric Head |
2018 | Sarah J. Hammill |
2017 | Elana Karshmer |
2016 | Gene Coppola |
2015 | Linda McCarthy |
2014 | Gladys Roberts |
2013 | Barbara J. Stites |
2012 | Gloria Colvin |
2011 | John Callahan |
2010 | Wendy Breeden |
2009 | Mercedes Clement |
2008 | Charlie Parker |
2007 | Sol Hirsch |
2006 | Nancy Pike |
2005 | Derrie Perez |
2004 | John Szabo |
2003 | Marta Westall |
2002 | Betty Johnson |
2001 | Mary Brown |
2000 | Madison Mosley |
1999 | Mary Jane Little |
1998 | Patricia DeSalvo |
1997 | Eileen Cobb |
1996 | Elizabeth Curry |
1995 | Helen Moeller |
1994 | Susan Anderson |
1993 | Ann Williams |
1992 | Alphonse Trezza |
1991 | Linda O'Connor-Levy |
1990 | Thomas Reitz |
1989 | Althea Jenkins |
1988 | John D. Hales |
1987 | Lydia Acosta |
1986 | James Wheeler |
1985 | John McCrossan |
1984 | Jean Rhein |
1983 | Harold Goldstein |
1982 | Ada Seltzer |
1981 | Samuel F. Morrison |
1979-1980 | Bernadette Storck |
1979 | John DePew |
1978 | Glenn Miller |
1977 | Eloise Harbeson |
1976 | Ed Sintz |
1975 | Virginia Grazier |
1974 | Dennis Robison |
1973 | David Kantor |
1972 | Leo Meirose |
1971 | Lynn Walker |
1970 | Cecil Beach |
1969 | DeLyle Runge |
1968 | Verna Nistendirk |
1967 | Elizabeth B. Mann |
1966 | Margaret Chapman |
1965 | Harry Brinton |
1964 | Thomas Dreier |
1963 | Ruth Rockwood |
1962 | Betty S. Lunnon |
1961 | Elliott Hardaway |
1960 | Frank B. Sessa |
1959 | Archie L. McNeal |
1958 | Helen L. Keepfe |
1957 | Dorothy Dodd |
1956 | Elizabeth Peeler |
1955 | William Frieze |
1954 | Dr. Louis Shores |
1953 | Alice Pearce |
1952 | Paul A.T. Noon |
1951 | Clara E. Wendel |
1950 | Stanley L. West |
1949 | Sara Malcolm Krentzman |
1948 | Betty W. Service |
1947 | Ida Kelley Cresap |
1945-1946 | Eulah Mae Snider |
1943-1944 | Wesley Summers |
1942 | Bertha Aldrich |
1941 | Olive Brumbaugh |
1940 | R.W. Severance |
1939 | Henrie Mae Eddy |
1937-1938 | Mary Bright |
1936 | Carl Bohnenberger |
1934-1935 | William F. Yust |
1932-1933 | Louise Richardson |
1931 | Helen V. Stelle |
1929-1930 | Joseph F. Marron |
1928 | Olive Brumbaugh |
1926-1927 | Anne VanNess Brown |
1924-1925 | Cora Miltimore |
1923 | Louise Gamsby |
1922 | Helen V. Stelle |
1921 | Joseph F. Marron |
1920 | Helen V. Stelle (Convener) |
1907-1910 | George Burwell Utley |
1905-1906 | Carolyn Palmer |
The FLA addresses important and impactful issues that affect Florida's libraries and intellectual freedom. [8] Its Statement on Professional Education states that Librarians and Library Directors must have a master's degree in Library and Information Sciences or Studies to uphold professional standards. The Statement on Privatization of Publicly-Supported Libraries advocates that efforts to privatize libraries by for-profit organizations should be opposed.
The FLA organizes an annual Library Legislative Day during which librarians, library advocates, and other supporters meet both virtually and in person at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee to speak with legislators in order to raise awareness of library issues. [9]
In 2024 Vice President/President-Elect Jorge Perez flew to Washington, DC to participate in the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies "Voices for Libraries event." [10]
The Friends of Florida Libraries Honor Roll supports FLA advocacy activities within the state government. Every year, the Friends of Florida Libraries sponsors a Library Day in Tallahassee in order to advocate for funding, library related legislation, and awareness. [11] [12]
The FLA provides multiple scholarships annually for students to enroll in programs of library and information science. [13]
In 2006, the FLA filed an amicus curiae memorandum in the United States District Court in support of an ACLU and Miami-Dade Student Government Association lawsuit. The Miami-Dade County School Board removed the book Vamos a Cuba and "A Visit to..." book series from the Miami-Dade School Board libraries and classrooms. In early 2009, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision to return the book to the school libraries. [8] [14]
The FLA supports the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) in their opposition to filed Florida legislation HB855 and SB1454, which has been criticized by the National Coalition Against Censorship for weakening First Amendment rights to freedom of speech by "authorizing any Florida resident (even if they have no connection to a particular school or library) to sue for injunctions to remove material they deem controversial and burden school districts with legal fees and court action." [15]
The FLA works to show the benefits of Florida's libraries. On their website, the Association promotes several tools and information sources, including Return on Investment information, data to support advocacy messages, Access Studies, and recommended readings. [16] [17]
The Florida Library Association records are available for research at the University of South Florida Libraries Tampa Special Collections. The collection consists of 144 boxes of historical research material and institutional records, ranging from 1905 to 2015. Included in the repository are meeting minutes, treasurer's reports, conference programs, planning material, newspaper clippings, photographs, committee records, and other associated subject files. They were organized by Bernadette E. Storck, 1979-1980 FLA president. The collection is available to affiliated University of South Florida researchers and the general public. [18]
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North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University.. Originally the "Town of Arch Creek", the area was incorporated as the "Town of Miami Shores", which was renamed the "Town of North Miami" in 1931. It was reincorporated as a city in 1953. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida.
Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in University Park, Florida. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida and the eighth-largest public university in the United States by enrollment. FIU is a constituent part of the State University System of Florida.
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world.
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Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the United States. It is Florida's third largest county in terms of land area with 1,946 square miles (5,040 km2). The county seat is Miami, the core of the nation's ninth-largest and world's 65th-largest metropolitan area with a 2020 population of 6.138 million people, exceeding the population of 31 of the nation's 50 states as of 2022.
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Miguel Díaz de la Portilla is a Cuban-American attorney and politician from Florida. A Republican, he served in the Florida Senate from 2010 to 2016, representing parts of Miami, Coral Gables, and the surrounding area. Prior to that, he was a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission from 1993 to 2000.
The Alice G. Smith Lecture, established in 1989, is sponsored by the University of South Florida School of Information. The lecture is an annual recognition of a scholar or author whose achievements have been instrumental in the development of librarianship or information studies. The lecture series honors the memory of the School's first director, Alice Gullen Smith, known for her work with youth and bibliotherapy. The Lecture Fund was created with the purpose of memorializing the work of Smith, who was central to the School's first accreditation by the American Library Association in 1975. Florida Library Association archivist, Bernadette Storck has provided an oral history of the development of libraries in Tampa, Florida that details the contributions of Smith including her establishment of the Tampa Book Fair that encouraged thousands of children to foster a love for books and reading
Edward Grant Stockdale, was a Florida businessman and friend of President John F. Kennedy who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1961 to 1962.
Lucile M. Morsch was an American librarian who served as president of the American Library Association from 1957 to 1958. Morsch also worked as the Deputy Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress from 1953 to 1962.
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