Brief Description: Correspondence of William C. Lane (1859-1931), secretary-treasurer of the Publishing Board (1886-1900) and of Joseph L. Harrison, secretary-treasurer of the Publishing Board (January-June 1901), contains a letterpress copybook of letters sent to Richard Rogers Bowker, editor of Publishers Weekly, includes correspondence with Nina E. Brown of the Boston Athenaeum, Aksel Gustav S. Josephson of Chicago, William I. Fletcher, Librarian of Amherst College, Hiller C. Wellman, Librarian of the Public Library of Brookline, Massachusetts, the Library Bureau and Houghton, Mifflin and Company, about the transfer of the publishing of certain Publishing Board publications from the Library Bureau to Houghton, Mifflin and Company, finances, publication of reference aids, articles, catalog cards, copyright permission, hiring a paid treasurer and the establishment of a cataloging bureau in New York.

Record Series Number: 13/1/5

Created by: Publishing Services

Volume: 0.1 Cubic Feet

Acquired: 01/17/1974.

Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by date

Biographical Note for Publishing Services :

In 1886 the American Library Association established a Publishing Section to create a cooperative publishing program for librarians (1).  The program was to provide catalogs, indexes and bibliographies, and to undertake publishing projects that were not necessarily commercially feasible, but still of value to librarians (2).  By 1900 the ALA changed the name from the Publishing Section to the Publishing Board, and took steps to secure ALA committee status (3).  Two notable titles produced by the Publishing Board in the early part of the century were Booklist (1905-present) and ALA Bulletin (1907-1970, continued by American Libraries 1970-present) (4).  In 1920, as a result of the ALA constitution adopted that year, a standing ALA Editorial Committee replaced the Publishing Board (5).

The next forty years saw a steady increase in library science book publishing.  By 1966 the Editorial Committee could no longer efficiently manage its diverse requirements and responsibilities. To rejuvenate ALA's position in library science publishing, the ALA created a new Publishing Board in 1966.  Operating as an arm of the ALA Executive Board, the new Publishing Board centralized control over manuscript acquisition and editing, design and production, and in marketing (6).

The Publishing Board was concerned with matters of finance, policy, and INT, while the Editorial Committee maintained editorial control over nondivisional works.  Better coordination of editorial policy and financial administration was realized with the merger of the Publishing Board and the Editorial Committee at the ALA San Francisco Conference of 1975 (8).  Following the Conference the two bodies became known as the ALA Publishing Committee.  This ten-member ALA standing committee of Council, which governs over ALA Publishing Services, held its first meeting in October 1975 (8).  At present, ALA Publishing Services manages five principal activities: 1) Books and Pamphlets  2) Booklist  3) Central Production Unit  4) Library Technical Reports and 5) Reference/Subscription Book Reviews (9).

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