TLA Summer News
The TLA Board met in June at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts to discuss the ongoing business of the association. A note of thanks to the TLA Board for all of their good work.
Membership
Thank you to new and renewing members of TLA. We rely on your membership dues to keep our association moving forward.
If you are not a current member and read our discussions on the TLA List, enjoy our website, and respect our mission – I encourage you to join TLA.
TLA was founded in 1937 with a mission to support the training and development of librarians, curators, and archivists in best practices for collecting and preserving the documentation of performance. Today, preserving the arts involves working with a variety of formats, analog and digital, text, multi-dimensional items, ephemera, and more. These collections present new and unique challenges. TLA continues to be a leader in the discussion of best practices for the curation, preservation, and access of performing arts collections.
TLA has expanded its activities since 1937. We publish the monograph series, Performing Arts Resources. We continue the tradition of publishing Broadside – today in the online form of our newly launched website. We sponsor symposia, continue to strengthen liaison work with a number of associations. We take pride in our Book Awards, the Freedley and Wall Awards, for excellence in publishing on topics related to the performing arts and recorded performance. We continue to honor our best in the profession with the Louis Rachow Distinguished Service Award and we encourage future librarians, curators, and archivists with the Brooks McNamara Performing Arts Librarian Scholarship Award.
By becoming a member of TLA, you endorse our mission and help us to continue all of our great work. Join us today!
Book Awards and Distinguished Service Award
The Book Awards will be held on October 16 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The event will be hosted in the café for a more intimate and relaxed setting. Please hold the date and join us as we celebrate excellence in research and publishing.
In addition to the Book Awards, I am delighted to announce that Karen Nickeson will be honored with the Louis Rachow Distinguished Service Award. Karen recently retired from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (LPA) “after a thirty-year career during which she distinguished herself as a curator, administrator, and strong and steady leader.“
Congratulations Karen!
TLA Book Club
The TLA Book Club is getting started this summer with its first selection – Wonder of Wonders by Alisa Solomon – recipient of the Freedley Award. The purpose of the club is to read and discuss works selected from past winners of the Freedley or Wall Award or titles selected from the TLA Book Reviews. If you are a TLA member, it is not too late to join. Send email to nef4@columbia.edu
ASTR TLA Conference
We are looking forward to a dynamic presence at the ASTR TLA Conference. The plenary session, chaired by Matt DiCintio, will include papers discussing the Samuel French Collection, William Archer Collection, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Project. The conference will be held in Portland in November.
Symposium Planning
Our next symposium is in planning for 2016. The theme of this event will focus on fringe festivals. Leahkim Gannett and Morgen Stevens-Garmon are serving as co-chairs of the planning committee. Many thanks to the other committee members: Matt DiCintio, Laurie Murphy, and Rachel Smiley.
Performing Arts Resources (PAR)
We have a dynamic roster of PAR volumes in planning. Kenneth Schlesinger is editing the next volume entitled State of the Profession: Performing Arts Librarianship in the 21st Century. We look forward to this volume in 2015. Future volumes include Creating Digital Projects for the Performing Arts (co-editors, Doug Reside and Tanisha Jones), Theatre Architecture (co-editors, John Calhoun and Nancy Friedland), Theatres at an Exhibition – the Art of Performance in Two Dimensions (editor, Marti LoMonaco), and a volume to include proceedings of the SIBMAS TLA Conference held in 2014.
Liaison Activities
Many thanks to Diana King, John Calhoun, and Joseph Talley for their assistance in arranging for tours of the American Conservatory Theatre and the Museum of Performance and Design during the ALA Conference in San Francisco.
Colleen Reilly is doing terrific work as co-chair of ATAP. Doug Reside and Eric Colleary have joined the ATAP Steering Committee – congratulations to both Doug and Eric! ATAP is planning a number of activities for ASTR – TLA 2015 in Portland. There will be a Portland Initiation Grant and Training Session which will include outreach to local organizations, the ATAP training session, and a Local Plenary Session, chaired by Eric Colleary.
We look forward to another dynamic year – and hope to see you in October at the Book Awards.
Enjoy a wonderful summer!
Nancy Friedland