TASLA History

The Texas Association of School Library Administrators was founded in 1967.  A brief history can be found below. 

 For a full history of TASLA, see Contract of Glory: An Eclectic History of School Library Supervision in Texas by Zella Mann Lewis.  PDF LINK

• March 18, 1967 - Texas Library Supervisors was founded with 33 participants.  The group met at a dining room in the Town Club Room of the Texas Hotel in Fort Worth.  Dr. Mary Boyvey acted as temporary chairman. From introductions around the room, titles varied from Supervisor to Consultant to Coordinator to Director, but libraries each had some type of supervisor.

• August 2-3, 1977 - The first School Library Supervisors Summer Conference was held in Austin at the Villa Capri Motel with the agenda based on the survey responses of federal funds and accreditation.

• 1979 - The group changed the organization name to Learning Resources Program Directors of Texas as they felt this was more descriptive of their current duties.

• 1983 - Texas School Administrators Coordinating Council accepted LRPDT as official members.

• June, 1984 - After a mail-in ballot, the group voted to change the organization name. Mary Lankford informed the group that the preferred name was Texas Association of School Library Administrators; therefore, stationery, constitution and by-laws were to be amended to reflect this action, hoping that this identification would be clear to any interested parties.

• June 1-3, 2005 - Texas Association of School Library Administrators Conference, held the first 3 day workshop at our current hotel.