BCALA - Chicago Chapter 

History of Chicago Chapter: 

Black Caucus of the American Library Association  

Introduction  

The organization that would ultimately become the Chicago Chapter of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) had very humble beginnings. Intentions after African American librarians formed the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (ALA) in January 1970, during the Chicago Midwinter Meeting, black librarians saw a need to provide hospitality during conference meetings in their respective cities. In 1972, African- American librarians, following the lead of their counterparts in Dallas and Detroit, formed an ad hoc hospitality committee for this purpose. Known as the Chicago Planning Committee and co-chaired by Donald Joyce of the Chicago Public Library (CPL) and Jeanne English, the group usually became inactive after their hospitality duties were over.  

However, though not the intention of the group's organizers, the spirit of activism alive in the 1970s would point the group in another direction. This Committee was the perfect platform to support African-American librarians when needed. Occasionally, the group was recruited to assist with matters of apparent injustice. In late 1972, graduate library student, Voree Gordon, sought the Committee's support when she applied for an Illinois Manpower Advisory Committee for scholarship aid. When obstacles were placed in her way, she appealed to the Committee, and they wrote a letter of protest to the Advisory Committee. Subsequently, the scholarship was granted. 

On a second occasion, the Committee responded to an action by the Chicago Public Library. When a critical administrative position within CPL was vacated and not properly advertised, the Committee responded by sending telegraphs to the Board of Directors. They were joined in this protest by the CPL Staff Association and the Municipal Employees union. This action also proved effective. 

These two incidents pointed to the need for a more formalized and focused group, one that supported African-American librarians and library school students, extolled African-American literature, resources, and authors, and identified and responded to the needs of black library users. And so, in October 1973, Jean E. Coleman, then Director of the Office for Library Services to the Disadvantaged at ALA headquarters, convened the first meeting of the National Black Caucus of Librarians, Chicago Chapter.  

The new Chicago Chapter: BCALA, has continued to support Chicago area librarians and focus on African-American library concerns for the past 50 years.