This collection contains records regarding the California Academic and Research Libraries Association (CARL). A majority of the collection contains documents regarding CARL leadership and organizational records such as executive board meeting minutes and memorandums; the CARL constitution and by-laws; presidential papers and binders; material related to various committees such as membership; scholarships and awards; elections; and others. Also included in this collection are financial records; documents related to CARL history including Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and California Library Association (CLA) records prior to CARL's separation; material related to various interest groups such as California Academic Reference Librarians Discussion Interest Group(CARLDIG), Science and Engineering Academic Librarians (SEAL), and others; documents regarding CARL annual conferences; programs and the program committee; and issues of the CARL Newsletter.

CARL was organized in its present form in 1978 and 1979, when the existing Chapter of Academic and Research Libraries of the California Library Association (CLA) merged with the recently-formed Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Chapters in California to form a single organization affiliated with both ACRL and CLA. In 1991, the California Library Association voted to discontinue chapters and replace them with sections whose members must also be members of CLA. In January 1992, the CARL president mailed a survey to members outlining CARL's options and requesting an opinion vote. A majority (71%) of CARL members voted for independence from CLA, and in September 1992 approved changes to the CARL constitution and bylaws which codified this decision. Members of the California State University Librarians Chapter of CLA were faced with the same set of options, and voted to join CARL as an interest group. They gathered the requisite number of signatures on a petition and were welcomed to CARL in November 1992.

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The majority of this collection is open for research. The membership rosters and any other material relating to specific members are closed to the public except with written permission from the CARL Executive Board.

There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where noted at the series level and/or previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions necessary from the CARL Executive Board to make use of this material.