# North Carolina Negro Library Association

The North Carolina Negro Library Association (NCNLA) was a professional organization for North Carolina's black librarians and library workers. It was the first black library association in the United States and the first black chapter in the American Library Association. It was headquartered in Durham, North Carolina at the North Carolina College for Negroes beginning in 1942.$^{:28}$
It was founded on April 20–21, 1934, at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Mollie Huston Lee and A. P. Marshall two of the original founders. At the time, black librarians could not join the NCLA because of racial segregation, however white librarians could join NCNLA and some did.$^{:30}$ NCNLA joined the American Library Association as a chapter on February 1, 1943.$^{:28}$
NCNLA published a mimeographed newsletter, The LIBRARIAN, beginning on November 17, 1937.$^{:26}$ It also published an organizational handbook in 1940 and began publication of LIBRARY SERVICE REVIEW in 1948.$^{:30}$

## Merge with NCLA

NCNLA began talks of merging with NCLA in 1948 and the first meeting of a joint committee of the NCLA and NCNLA on the merger of the two organizations was held March 11, 1950.$^{:31}$ The membership of NCNLA were invited guests to an NCLA annual meeting on April 26–27, 1951 and over 85 black librarians attended.$^{:31}$
The American Library Association made a decision to only allow one library association chapter per state, and required that any state chapter be integrated. As a result, NCLA agreed to admit black members in 1954—voting 255 yeses to 107 nos.$^{:35}$ The two associations merged in 1955 after the NCNLA voted in the recommendations of the Committee on Redesignation at their annual meeting on November 5–6, 1954 under the guidance of Constance Hill Marteena.$^{:36}$
NCNLA had their last official meeting as an independent group on November 4–5, 1955 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The NCLA elected their first black president, Dr. Annette Phinazee, in 1975. Dr. Phinazee commented on her presidency,
   In other states... the orderly process of integration involved a merger of associations like these. The incumbent president of the larger white associations almost invariably became president of the newly-formed group, with the black president succeeding in the next year. My presidency is 20 years late. The office should have gone first to one of those people who worked so hard, against obstacles the white members of the NCLA have never known.

## Conferences

| Date | Location | Notable Speakers |
| April 20–21, 1934 | Shaw University | |
| April 5–6, 1935 | St. Augustine's | |
| April 3–4, 1936 | Winston-Salem Teacher's College | Arthur Schomburg |
| April 2–3, 1937 | Fayetteville State Normal School | Alain LeRoy Locke |
| April 1–2, 1938 | North Carolina College for Negroes | James E. Shepard |
| March 31-April 1, 1939 | Livingstone College | Rufus Early Clement |
| April 5–6, 1940 | Rocky Mount, NC | |
| October 24–25, 1941 | Johnson C. Smith University | |
| February 4–5, 1944 | Shaw University | |
| October 27–28, 1944 | | Arna Bontemps, Charlotte Hawkins Brown |
| November 1–2, 1946 | Winston-Salem Teacher's College | Rayford Logan |
| November 1, 1947 | Williston Industrial School | Shirley Graham |
| November 5–6, 1948 | William Penn High School | Marion Vera Cuthbert |
| November 4–5, 1949 | West Charlotte High School | Robert Prentiss Daniel |
| November 3–4, 1950 | Booker T. Washington High School | Rufus Early Clement |
| November 2–3, 1951 | North Carolina College for Negroes | Rose Browne |
| November 7, 1952 | Lincoln Junior High School | |
| November 6–7, 1953 | Elizabeth City State Teachers College | |
| November 5–6, 1954 | Elvie Street School | John Hope Franklin |
| November 4–5, 1955 | West Charlotte High School | |