Arkansas Library Association
The Arkansas Library Association is a professional organization for Arkansas's librarians and library workers. It is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was founded on January 26, 1911, in Little Rock, Arkansas by Caroline Langworthy from the Carnegie library of Fort Smith, Maud Pugsley from the Little Rock Public Library and the Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs. C. W. L. Armour, a trustee of Fort Smith Public Library, was the organization's first president. Early legislative efforts led to approval of a plan allowing some towns to impose taxes for library development.
Miss Jim Matthews was the first librarian and first woman to serve as ArLA president in 1923. During this time the organization moved towards advocacy for professional development for librarians.
ArLA began publishing a newsletter which evolved into Arkansas Libraries by 1930. After the organization had a financial setback in 1933 when their bank failed, Arkansas Libraries stopped being published until 1944. It is still being published quarterly in 2020.
