Special Libraries of Berks County / Berks County Library Association:
A Brief History
by Wendy M. Schmehl (2003)
Founding and early years
The history of the organization dates back to April 1967 when a group of 9 people met at the Polymer Corporation (now Quadrant Engineering Plastics). This first group of people consisted of chemists, engineers, secretaries, technicians and librarians. All of them were the keepers of small, specialized literature collections that were housed at local, mostly manufacturing, companies. The key individuals who started the organization were Betty Hanf (Polymer Corporation), Bob Knouse (Carpenter Steel), Ruth Stratton (Western Electric), and Ian Thompson (Reading Eagle). A name - "Special Libraries of Berks County" - was adopted at the first meeting. SLBC was formed as a cooperative where individual members could share their experience, resources, and ideas with the common goal of providing better library services. The objectives, which were set at the first meeting, were: 1) compilation of a directory of members; and 2) exchange of periodical lists. A three-member Steering Committee was formed to accomplish the objectives of the new organization and to plan four meetings per year. There were no by-laws, no officers, and no dues. Each library was expected to distribute its own periodicals list in exchange for receiving lists from other member libraries. Costs were absorbed by the individual libraries.
During its first 10 years, the SLBC had panel discussions, speakers, library tours, vendor demos, and workshops as part of the regular meetings. Library tours even included a trip to Harrisburg in May of 1977 to the State Library. Meeting locations rotated among the various library facilities; periodical holdings lists were exchanged. Representatives from Albright College, the Berks Campus of Penn State, and the Reading Public Library attended early meetings. The average Treasury balance, when one was reported, was $10.00
Ten years after its founding, at the beginning of 1977, SLBC had grown to 25 members. A survey taken at that time showed that seventy-five percent of the members were representatives of special libraries. All of the local medical libraries were represented. There were five academic libraries and one public library included in the membership as of 1977.
Evolution to BCLA: the second decade
In the Fall of 1977, the members decided to seek State recognition as the cooperative library organization for Berks County. A more formal organization would be needed to make the SLBC eligible for government funds that would later be offered to library co-operatives in Pennsylvania. A Special Committee or Task Force was formed to study the issues and report back to the membership. A re-organization was approved by the membership at the May 1978 meeting; bylaws were adopted at the Fall meeting that year. The name was changed to the Berks County Library Association; the membership would now be open to all types of libraries and librarians in Berks County. Some of the librarians, who had been initial members of SLBC, did not approve of the change. The membership for one of these libraries was withdrawn for a short period of time.
The first officers of the "new" organization were Maureen Matkovich, Mary Ellen Heckman, Deena Morganti, and Mindy Robinson. A dues structure was established in 1979: $6.00 for an institutional membership and $5.00 for an individual. Individuals who were not affiliated with any specific library were also allowed to join. Because the organization was now open to all types of libraries, there was an increase in the number of school and public library members. In 1988-89 all of the public libraries in Berks County became members of BCLA. The total membership in 1989 was 85.
At some point early in the history of BCLA, the meeting frequency was changed from quarterly to 3 times per year. During the mid 1980's, one of these meetings became a dinner or luncheon meeting. Notable speakers at these meetings included Elliot Shelkrot, Director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Sara Parker, the State Librarian.
A Union List of Serials, which had first been discussed at the Winter 1970 meeting of the SLBC, was started in the early 80's. The first paper copy list, which was compiled from key-punched entries, was produced at Western Electric's Bell Labs (most recently known as Agere). Later issues of the Union List were compiled by Albright College.
BCLA: recent years
A newsletter, called the Shelflist, was started in the late 80s. It is currently issued 3 times per year and is used primarily to announce meetings and provide minutes to the membership. A "15 Minutes of Fame" section was added in 1999 so members could get to know one another better. The Fall 2003 issue of the Shelflist was the first one to be sent electronically.
In 1993, a hard-working BCLA Committee obtained an LSCA Grant through the State Library to continue the Union List of Serials which had, by now, become a monumental job to produce locally. The BCLA periodical holdings became part of a national system; local holdings lists were produced electronically.
Dues were increased to $10.00 in 1994 (the only increase since 1979). A category for student memberships was added in 1999. A grant program was started in 1996 to provide funds for continuing education or professional development of BCLA members. These funds are awarded on an annual basis from the BCLA Treasury. Other additions / changes that occurred during more recent years were the establishment of a listserv and a Web site - with an electronic directory.
The BCLA Professional Development Committee has offered workshops on many different topics: automation, copyright, collection development, disaster planning, the internet. Some of the workshops are all-day events that are open to non-members.
BCLA observes another anniversary in April 2004. Some things haven't changed since the organization was founded. We meet three times per year; we hold most of our meetings and workshops at member library facilities; we compile a membership directory; we share discard lists of books and periodicals; we notify each other about job openings and no-longer-needed equipment. The organization has adapted to the ever-changing world of library and information science and technology and has remained relevant into the 21st century. BCLA exists today because of the many members who have served the organization during the past 37 years.
SLBC: Before the First Meeting
By now most BCLA members are probably familiar with how our organization started as the Special Libraries of Berks County, and you have a feel for the initial goals of the organization and the role of the founding members. At the Winter 2007 meeting we were honored to have one of those original founding members, Betty Hanf, in attendance. During the business meeting Betty informed us that we missed an important individual in our history write up. Coincidentally that same day Betty turned over some old papers and speeches she had written when she was an active member, asking that they be stored with the organization’s historical records (housed with Wendy Schmehl at Carpenter Technology Corp.) It was through Betty’s files that I was able to piece together a previously unknown piece of our history.
The member we had left out of our history was Mr. F. Barry Robinson, who had been the librarian at Glidden. The way SLBC got started (before the first meeting) was with some planning by Ruth Stratton and Betty. They created a questionnaire and it was sent to fifteen organizations during March, 1967. The organizations were selected based on the fact that they were known to have literature resources. Responses were received from thirteen organizations, amongst those was Mr. Robinson. He offered to help in the planning process, providing feedback and suggestions on how to plan the very first meeting and the priorities of the organization, drawing on earlier experience he had from creating a similar organization for the Reading Chemists Club. Unfortunately this relevant detail of our organization’s past was sadly overlooked because Mr. Robinson died unexpectedly, just before the first meeting could be carried out. The history as we had previously known it did not document or take into account the combined efforts of Ruth, Betty and Barry.
The correct founding members list is as follows:
Marion Daub – Community General
Betty Hanf – Polymer Corp.
Doris Levan – St. Joseph Hospital
Lenora Ludwig – Penn State
Robert Knouse – Carpenter Steel
Dr. Josephine Raeppel – Albright College
F. Barry Robinson - Glidden
Irene Schmidt – Reading Hospital
Ruth Stratton – Western Electric
Carolyn Unruh – Reading Hospital
Many thanks to Betty Hanf for helping us to fill in this previously unknown gap in our organization's history.
Mindy Peters, Treasurer
Spring 2007