American Association Of Law Libraries Archives

Brief History of the AALL

The American Association of Law Libraries was formed in July, 1906 by Arthur J. Small and a group of twenty-four librarians during the ALA meeting at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island. Publication of the Law Library Journal and Index to Legal Periodicals began in 1908. It is a non-profit organization that "exists to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the public, the legal community, and the world, to foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in the field of legal information and information policy."

In a letter to President Rosamond Parma in July of 1930, William R. Roalfe proposed that the Association recognize institutional members, create and staff a central headquarters office, and further develop its publishing program. The members of the association in 1934 officially accepted the "Roalfe Plan," and its implementation significantly influenced the development of the AALL for over fifty years. In 1964 Chicago became the permanent headquarters of the AALL. In 1976 the Association passed bylaws providing for the creation of Special Interest Sections. In 1980 the AALL Archives were established at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1981 the first executive director was appointed.

A chronology of the AALL developed by Frank G. Houdek is available from the AALL website.