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New Perspectives Round Table
HISTORY OF NPRT
In 1976, ULA was in difficult financial
straights. The financial structure of the Association was such that all
money was placed in a general fund, members simply asked for funds, and the
Executive Secretary just paid. There were no prior budget requests and no
real accountability for what was spent. That seemed to work when the
Association was small and did not really spend much anyway, but things were
changing.
So in 1976-1977 a few ULA members met together to discuss what could be done to
assure that there was accountability in the Association's affairs--mostly
financial but also programatic. At the Spring 1977 ULA Conference in Salt
Lake City a few of us met at D.B. Cooper's, a local bar and restaurant, to form
NPRT. Joining the local librarians was Allie Beth Martin, then ALA
President, who was here as Conference speaker. She supported the
"watchdog" function that was outlined and gave organizational advice.
Original members were from a variety of types of libraries, mostly young
(though not in every case) and certainly interested and committed to ULA and
its success.
With recommendations and suggestions from the group, ULA quickly changed
procedures, and the financial responsibility which we now enjoy was soon in
place--budgets were requested of units and people could only spend what was
available to them, etc.
With NPRT now as an official Round Table of the Association, with membership
from such a variety of libraries, and with the initial purpose of the group now
largely settled (although the "watchdogs" did emerge a time or two
later on), NPRT found its place to be the home of interesting and controversial
programs, stressing responsible action on behalf of libraries and librarians
statewide, most notably in intellectual freedom matters, and served as the
social arm of the Association.
Examples of NPRT's past activities include inviting speakers to ULA who
believed quite differently than most librarians on issues of censorship, for
example, for frank and positive conversation. Also, NPRT took leadership
in identifying a practice in a local library which was against the Library Bill
of Rights which led to a censure of that library by ULA--the library hanged
that practice.
Finally, there are the parties--from singing with Juice Newton at the Cowboy
Bar in Park City, to an elegant champagne reception in Symphony Hall in SLC,
which proved to be the social highlight of the joint ULA/ACRL conference.
Also memorable were the Hospitality Suites in various hotels during
conferences--where members could relax and visit during conference time.
Other activities ranged from an elegant tea at the Hotel Utah, to casino night
in Mesquite, to the 20th anniversary celebration amid the antique cars at
Ogden's Union station.
(Information provided by Paul Mogren.)
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