The Private Libraries Association (PLA) is an international society of book collectors with 450 individual members and over 100 institutional members. The majority of members are based in Britain, but there are also members in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.

Origin

The PLA came into being in 1956 when 18-year-old Philip Ward wrote a letter to the ''

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

'' inviting booklovers and book collectors to attend a meeting to discuss the setting up of an association whose aims would be *to help readers in the organisation, cataloguing and fuller enjoyment of their personal collections; *to cover every subject field by voluntary organised specialisation, and to record locations for loans.

Print publications

Since 1957 the PLA has published a quarterly journal, originally called ''P.L.A. Quarterly'' but quickly renamed to ''The Private Library'' in 1958. Since Spring 1968, the journal has appeared in a standard format of some 40-50 pages containing two or three illustrated articles. The PLA also publishes a members' book every year or two years. The articles and books are written by members and cover a wide range of subjects – classic fine printing and modern

private press Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on Book design ...

es, modern

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction ...

es and

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

illustrators An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicated ...

and

publishers Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, famous books and the history of

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

, bookplates and

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

bookselling Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

, etc.. Details of the books and ''the Private Library'' can be found on the association's website.The website of the Private Libraries Association
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Governance

The current Chairman of the Association is James Freemantle.

References

{{Authority control English book and manuscript collectors Book arts Book collecting Organizations established in 1958