The Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) was founded in 1983 by the merger of the Chinese American Librarians Association, which was established in Chicago in 1973, and the Chinese Librarians Association, established in 1974 at Stanford University.CALA is a not-for-profit organization of Chinese American professionals in library and information science. CALA has 700 members in the United States and abroad, with six geographic chapters in the U.S.: California, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Greater Mid-Atlantic, and Florida. CALA has received substantial recognition among professionals and is actively affiliated with the American Library Association.
CALA's goals are:
- to promote communication of ideas and expertise among members,
- to serve as a forum for discussions of mutual problems and professional concerns,
- to provide a vehicle for cooperation among Chinese American librarians and with other professionals.
The CALA Midwest Chapter (CALAMW) is organized to best serve the interests of its members in 14* states of Midwest. Currently the MW Chapter has 97 members. The regular officers, elected by the chapter members are president, vice president/president elect, and treasurer. The secretary and the special committees, appointed by the incumbent president to serve the same length as the president, include those for program planning, membership, electronic publishing, nomination, public relations, special task forces and state contacts. The election usually takes place in spring of each year.
Recent publications include:
The CALA homepage is accessed at the URL at www.cala-web.org.
- MW Chapter Brochure:
- Midwest Area Chinese American Resources Guide
- The electronic Bulletin (ceased).
Chapter information is linked with the CALA homepage. Starting July, 1998, the Midwest Chapter established its own homepages with the URL address at www.uic.edu/depts/lib/projects/resources/calamw/.CALA email discussion list: cala@csd.uwm.edu.
CALA Midwest email discussion list is a member-only list. You can send your application for sign in the MW mailing list to: cala-midwest@ukans.edu