Highlights
April 7, 1942,
should be almost as significant a date in the minds of advertising librarians
as that of the Declaration of Independence. In a sense, the letter written
on that day to the SLA Executive Board was their "declaration of
independence." Attached to that letter was a petition requesting
that the Executive Board recognize a Group to be known as the Advertising
Group. All 21 signers were members of the Advertising Section of the
Commerce Group of the New York Chapter. Eleven were advertising agency
librarians, and seven were publishing librarians who served the advertising
departments of their publications.
On June 20, 1942,
at a SLA Executive Board meeting in Detroit the petition was presented.
It was then referred to a Committee on Special Libraries Organization
for Study and Recommendation. Letters from the 'petitioners' to the
'petitioned' flew rapidly back and forth, and the cause of the advertising
librarians gained momentum. Under the vigorous leadership of Chair Delphine
Humphrey, who wouldn't take 'no' or 'later' for an answer, the advertising
librarians extracted a promise from the Executive Board to give every
consideration to the matter at its fall meeting in October 1942.
"There are
occasions and causes, why and wherefore in all things," said the
Board. The whys and wherefores of the advertising librarians' petition
compiled a list that was truly formidable. The formation in the Association
of an Advertising Group, distinct from the Commerce Group, was justified.
The reasons advanced
were too logical and well formed for the SLA Board to remain unconvinced.
In the Fall of 1942 the Advertising Group was established with a membership
of 340. The first organizational meeting was held in New York City.
In 1950 51, the name of the Advertising Group was changed to the Advertising
Division and later, in recognition of its widening scope, became the
Advertising & Marketing Division.
Through the years,
several worthwhile projects have been carried out under the aegis of
the Advertising & Marketing Division, including courses on advertising
sources and public relations. Each year, the Division plans a full schedule
of programs and events for the SLA Annual Conference.
The Division's
publications program is directed toward the issuing of informative and
useful material for the membership. It’s A&M Bulletin was first
published in June 1943 and was edited by Edith E. Becker. This publication
has served as the Division's means of communicating with the membership.
The A&M Bulletin highlights Division members and activities, and includes
information product evaluations and special profiles.
Periodically, the
Division contributes to the Association's publication, Information Outlook.
The Summer 1991 issue "Public Relations in Special Libraries,"
was edited by the Division's Public Relations Chair, Holly Bussey. The
Division contributed a chapter to SLA's book Tools of the Profession
edited by Division members Bert Schachter and Gretchen Reed. The Division
also has published two editions of International Advertising & Marketing
Information Sources through SLA.
With a membership
of over 500 information professionals, the Advertising & Marketing Division
has evolved into a dynamic group of people from all disciplines. Interest
in the marketing field has expanded, and so has our membership. Representatives
from advertising agencies, telemarketers, educational institutions,
museums, the arts, engineering and medicine comprise just some of the
diverse background of our ranks. Our membership is truly international,
and includes members in Canada, Great Britain, France, Australia and
Japan. The Division continues to be an enthusiastic leader in positioning
libraries and information centers as critical assets, which includes
working with SLA on a marketing and media plan to promote the profession.
(Adapted from Mary
Margaret Regan's "Advertising Division Highlights," in Special
Libraries Association - Its First Fifty Years, 1909-1959, ed. by Alma
Clarvoe Mitchell (New York: SLA, 1959), pp. 73-74, and Gretchen Reed's
"The Advertising & Marketing Information
Intelligently" in the A&M
Bulletin, Spring 1992, p.3.)
For more about our history, see
Past Officers
For the History of Advertising
Libraries,
click here.
