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 North Carolina Library Association (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