The Mississippi Library Association (MLA) is a professional organization for

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

librarians A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

and library workers. It is headquartered in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

in the Mississippi Library Commission building. It was founded October 29, 1909 by Whitman Davis, a librarian at Mississippi A & M College. In 1968, it became incorporated as Mississippi Library Association, Inc. The organization publishes ''Mississippi Libraries'' (ISSN 0194-388X) a quarterly, open access publication. MLA was a segregated library association, joining Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia Library Associations in reporting to ALA in 1951 that there were "no formal barriers to membership," in their associations and yet, "most African Americans chose not to join." The MLA lost

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

chapter representation status in 1962 as a result of not complying with ALA policies requiring integrated library associations. However, they were honored by the ALA for their National Library Week activities in 1964, and integrated as a result of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. The Mississippi Library Association sponsors author awards in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children’s Literature.Mississippi Authors Awards
Mississippi Library Association.

References

External links

Mississippi Library Association website

Southeastern Library Association website
Library associations in the United States Organizations based in Mississippi {{Library-org-stub