A SS O C I AT I O N P R E S E N TAT I O N
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A L L I S O N P H I L L I P S
Mission Statement
“Founded in 1937, the Theatre Library Association supports librarians and archivists affiliated with theatre, dance, performance studies, popular entertainment, motion picture, and broadcasting collections. TLA promotes professional best practices in acquisition, organization, access and preservation of performing arts resources in libraries, archives, museums, private collections, and the digital environment. By producing publications, conferences, panels, and public events, TLA fosters creative and ethical use of performing arts materials to enhance research, live performance, and scholarly communication.”*
*http://www.tla-online.org/about/mission.html
History
Founded in 1937 under the directive of Harry M Lydenberg, director of the New York Public Library
George Freedley, curator of the Theatre Collection of the NYPL, was elected as the first president
Officially became an affiliate of the ALA in 1938
In 2012, the Annual Anniversary Gala celebrated the 75th anniversary of the association’s founding by staging an abridged reading of the original 1937 roundtable discussion*
“TLA has recently taken an active role in the discussion on digital humanities and the performing arts.”**
Image: George Freedley
*http://www.tla-online.org/about/history.html**http://library.columbia.edu/news/libraries/2013/2013-7-17_NancyFriedland_TLA_President.html
Current Leadership/Membership
Image: Nancy Friedland
Members include: “curators, librarians, historians, archivists, scholars, performers, writers, designers, collectors, and students.”*
President: Nancy Friedland of Columbia University
Vice president: Angela Weaver of the University of Washington
Executive Secretary: Laurie Murphy of NYU
Treasurer: Colleen Reilly of Slippery Rock University**
*http://www,tla-online.org/about/mission.html**http://www.tla-online.org/about/executiveboard.html
Annual Book Awards
George Freedley Memorial Award Annual book award honoring a work on live
performanceRichard Wall Memorial Award
Annual book award for a work on recorded performance, film, television or broadcasting
Special Jury Prizes are also sometimes awarded
Awards recognize “exceptional scholarship” in the field*
*http://www.tla-online.org/awards/bookawards.html
Highlights of Recent Book Award Winners
Images:
Award
Winners
2012 Freedley Award Winner: Great Lengths: Seven Works of Marathon
Theatre. University of Michigan Press, 2011.
“Considers large-scale theater productions that often run five hours or more and present special challenges to the artists.”* Looks at the appeal of these long works in an era of very limited leisure time and endless distractions.
2012 Wall Award Winner: Soul Searching: Black-Themed Cinema
from the March on Washington to the Rise of Blaxploitation. Wesleyan University Press, 2011.
“Reveals how race relations [in the 1960’s] influenced Black-themed cinema before it was recognized as commercially viable by the major studios.”*
*http://www.tla-online.org/awards/bookawards.html
Additional Awards and Honors
Louis Rachow Distinguished Service in Performing Arts Librarianship Award “Honors an individual who has made a noteworthy
contribution to the profession”*Honorary Membership is awarded to
individuals who have “demonstrated longstanding dedication to TLA”*
Brooks McNamara Performing Arts Librarian Scholarship “Acknowledges the accomplishments of promising
students”** *http://www.tla-online.org/awards/professionalawards.html**http://www.tla-online.org/awards/scholarship.html
Upcoming Conferences
Joint Conference of the International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts (SIBMAS) and Theatre Library Association Event Title: Body, Mind, Artifact: Reimagining Collections Event Date: June 10-13, 2014
Joint Conference of the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) and Theatre Library Association Event Title: The Paradox of the Post-Human: Archival
Subjects, Systems, and Sites Event Date: November 20-23, 2014
http://www.tla-online.org/events/conferences.html
Events
The Executive Board meets three times per year—Winter, Spring, and Fall
The Annual Business Meeting is held every October at the NYPL for the Performing Arts in NYC. All members are invited to attend*
Symposia held every four years, beginning in 2003. The next Symposia is expected to occur in 2015. The most recent Symposium concerned “authenticity and adaptation” in productions of the works of Shakespeare**
Image: Symposium Flier
*http://www.tla-online.org/events.meetings.html**http://www.tla-online.org/events/symposia.html
Publications
Broadside Newsletter Published three times every year Established in 1940, then
became an online publication in 2006. Back issues are in the process of being digitized
Contains “articles and news items” about relevant topics*
Performing Arts Resources, a monograph, is not published on a regular basis
A few E-Papers are also published on an irregular basis
Members and non-members (who must pay for access) are able to view all materials via the TLA website**
Image: Recent Broadside Cover
*http://www.tla-online.org/publications/broadside.html**http://www.tla-online.org/publications/otherpubs.html
Performing Arts Libraries, Archives, and Museums of the Midwest
Chicago Theatre Collection, CPLIndiana University Bloomington Theater and
Drama CollectionJerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre
Research Institute, OSUThe Newberry Library Dance CollectionRoosevelt University Performing Arts LibraryUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Music
and Performing Arts LibraryWisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
http://www.tla-online.org/links/libraries.html
List of Resources
http://library.columbia.edu/news/libraries/2013-7-17_NancyFriedland_TLA_President.html
http://www.aate.orghttp://www.ala.org/groups/affiliates/affiliates/tlahttp://www.astr.orghttp://www.atds.orghttp://www.athe.orghttp://www.firt-iftr.orghttp://www.sibmas.orghttp://www.tla-online.org
Images
Slide 1: http://www.tla-online.org/index.htmlSlide 3: http://www.tla-online.org/about/history.htmlSlide 4:
http://library.columbia.edu/news/libraries/2013-7-17_NancyFriedland_TLA_President.html
Slide 6: http://www.tla-online.org/awards/bookawards.html
Slide 9: http://www.tla-online.org/events/symposia.html
Slide 10: http://www.tla-online.org/publications/broadside.html