The Southwestern Library Association (SWLA) was a professional organization for
librarians
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...
and library workers based in the southwestern United States and in Mexico.
It was headquartered in
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of th ...
after being founded on October 26, 1922, in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. The organization was designed primarily to serve library associations and librarians in the states of
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, and
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
, the State Librarian of Texas at the time, was the first president of SWLA. Dorothy Amann, president of the
Texas Library Association
The Texas Library Association (TLA) is a charitable non-profit group that promotes libraries in Texas. It was founded in 1902. TLA is affiliated with the American Library Association (ALA) and has more than 6,000 members made up of librarians and ...
from 1921 to 1922 was instrumental in visiting the states bordering Texas to encourage their participation.
Lillian Gunter, founder of the Cooke County Library, was also a SWLA co-founder.
From 1959 to 1967, the SWLA published the ''Southwestern Library Association Newsletter.'' The organization was perhaps best known for its SLICE program (Southwestern Library Interstate Cooperative Endeavor) for interstate networking and continuing education.
In 1983, Louisiana joined the
Southeastern Library Association
The Southeastern Library Association (SELA) is an organization that collaborates with different library associations within the Southeastern United States, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Caro ...
. Shortly thereafter, the SWLA dissolved due to dwindling financial support.
References
Library associations in the United States
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