Alpha Beta Alpha

Alpha Beta Alpha
ABA
Founded May 3, 1950
Northwestern State College of Louisiana
Type Professional[1]
Scope National
Motto Books, People, Service, Life
Colors Royal Purple and White
Flower White Rose
Chapters 1 active
Headquarters Kutztown, Pennsylvania, USA
Homepage http://www.kutztown.edu/acad/coe/ls/abasite/index.html

Alpha Beta Alpha is a national honorary library fraternity dedicated to serving college and university library science majors at the undergraduate level. The fraternity numbers 38 active members in one active chapter.

History

Alpha Beta Alpha was founded on May 3, 1950 but its roots reach five years earlier on October 30, 1945, to a banquet hosted by Eugene P. Watson on the campus of Northwestern State College of Louisiana, since known as Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.[2] At this banquet were some forty library science students and a few dignitaries, including Nora Buest (United States Office of Education), Sue Hefley (Louisiana State Supervisor of School Libraries), and Mary Harris (Louisiana Assistant State Librarian). Attendees spoke of the need for a nationwide professional development organization geared towards library science students.

The following year, on January 10, 1946, the Northwestern State College Library Club was founded.[3] A year later, the name was changed to the Scharlie E. Russel Library Club, which existed for four and a half years.

Finally, on May 3, 1950, the members of the Scharlie E. Russel Library Club founded Alpha Beta Alpha, the first co-educational library science fraternity in the United States. Two years later, on March 15 and March 16, the first Alpha Beta Alpha national convention was held at Northwestern State College of Louisiana.[4]

Current organization

The only current chapter of Alpha Beta Alpha is currently located at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. The group holds bi-weekly meetings to discuss current events in the field of library science. Over the last few years, the organization has been under leadership that has steered the organization into more social pursuits than just purely academia [5]

Sources

References

  1. ↑ "Alpha Beta Alpha Constitution" (PDF). Alpha Beta Alpha: 1. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  2. ↑ Nasri, William Z. (1968). "Alpha Beta Alpha". In Allen Kent & Harold Lancour. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science 1. New York: Marcel Dekker. pp. 166–67. ISBN 0-8247-2001-6. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  3. ↑ Nasri, William Z. (1968). "Alpha Beta Alpha". In Allen Kent & Harold Lancour. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science 1. New York: Marcel Dekker. p. 167. ISBN 0-8247-2001-6. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  4. ↑ Nasri, William Z. (1968). "Alpha Beta Alpha". In Allen Kent & Harold Lancour. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science 1. New York: Marcel Dekker. pp. 167, 169. ISBN 0-8247-2001-6. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  5. ↑ "Alpha Beta Alpha". Kutztown University of Library Science: 1. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  6. ↑ "Alpha Beta Alpha History". Alpha Beta Alpha: 1. Retrieved 2009-04-15.

External links

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