A Chapter of the Medical Library Association

Brief Chapter History of the past 25 years of MLGSCA:

(Requested by the MLA 125-Year Retrospective Task Force.)

What is the name of your caucus/chapter?

Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona

What year was your caucus/chapter established?

Medical Library Group of Southern California began meeting formally in 1948 to consider organizing a regional group of the Medical Library Association.

Has your group had any name changes? If your group has changed its name, please list the names and years these changes occurred.

Our chapter was originally called Medical Library Group of Southern California. In 1974 the Arizona medical library groups were asked to join MLGSC and became official members in 1975. We then changed our name to Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona.

Has your caucus merged with another group in the past 5 years? If so, which group?

No.

Have the geographical boundaries of your chapter changed? If so, when and what changes took place (e.g., merged with another chapter)?

Our chapter’s original northern boundary was Bakersfield and in 1978 the northern geographic boundary was reestablished to include all libraries south of Fresno. San Diego has remained our southern boundary.

What are the top 3 (or fewer) moments in the history for your caucus/chapter since 1998 (500 words or less). These can include milestones, major projects, outstanding leaders, and awards.

MLGSCA has been recognized for innovation and excellence on several occasions, winning Chapter of the Year Award in: 2002 - Broadcasting chapter meetings and programs using video recording technology, 2011 - Use of MegaMeeting web conferencing service, 2014 - Substance Over Style: Exploring a cost-effective model for chapter meetings, and 2015 - Chapter outreach and promotion to non-medical librarians in Arizona.

For decades our chapter sponsored a manual coupon system, a method of payment developed when ILL articles were sent primarily via mail to allow for payment between hospital libraries. Seeing the benefit of an all electronic funds transfer system (EFTS), MLGSCA proactively worked to support our members’ transition to EFTS and phased out our coupon system in December 2008.

We’ve had a strong Professional Issues Committee over the years, with diverse recruitment, retention and support of our current chapter members as a goal. MLGSCA librarians partnered with San Jose State University’s School of Information to provide a regularly occurring class on Health Sciences Librarianship, exposing students to the profession and building skill sets of those interested in our field.

Tell us something fun about your caucus/chapter.

Many MLA notables are former and current MLGSCA members – Ellen Aaronson, Jo Anne Boorkman, Naomi Broering, Lois Ann Colaianni, Louise Darling, Jacque Doyle, J. Michael Homan, Marsha Kmec, Susan Lessick, Lisa Marks, Fred Roper, just to name a few!

What is one thing about your chapter/caucus that your colleagues would be surprised to learn?

We are the oldest chapter of MLA, starting in 1948. We have a dividing line between Northern California Nevada (NCNMLG) Chapter and Southern California Arizona Chapter around Fresno, but we have many members who have flowed back and forth between chapters. In fact, our chapters are so closely tied that we hold our annual chapter meeting as a Joint meeting with NCNMLG and rotate hosting responsibilities.

How has your caucus/chapter become more accessible, equitable, or inclusive than in the past?

We embraced the online meeting format early because it enabled more people to join our Advisory Council (Board) meetings. Previously, members would have to travel to one location in state of the President (Chair) for meetings. In the last year, we have made extra effort to invite the entire membership to Advisory Council meetings to promote openness and transparency within our Chapter.

What topics do you think your caucus/chapter will be addressing in 2048?

We aren’t quite sure about 25 years from now, but we are definitely thinking about our history and preserving our print and electronic archives.