Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL) records

Collection

Identifier: RA-004

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Council of Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Records document the organizational history and activities of this professional association, dedicated to the field of botanical and horticultural literature and libraries. These records encompass the organizations records from its inception in 1969 as well as more current records transferred to the archives on an irregular basis. These records are indicative of the continuing and evolving scope of professional interests addressed by CBHL as well as its steady international growth. The records are divided into six series and were transferred in intervals from 1970 to the present.

The records include business files, financial records, membership lists, correspondence and memoranda, annual meeting activities, newsletters and photographs.

Dates

1969-2015

Biographical / Historical

The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL) was formed to initiate and facilitate communication between persons and institutions concerned with libraries of botanical and horticultural literature.

Its origins can be traced to a conference held in Boston convened by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on November 13, 1969. This first conference, attended by forty delegates representing more than 20 institutions from the eastern United States, was in response to the felt need to bring together institutions and individuals concerned with the development and maintenance of these libraries in an organized, though loosely structured, forum. The goal was to create a society to share information, discuss problems of mutual concern, and collectively work toward solving problems each faced individually and often ineffectively.

The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries was formally organized at the Second Conference of Botanical and Horticultural Librarians held at the Hunt Botanical Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 24-25, 1970. It was decided that the governing body would be a secretariat of three.

This form of management continues today with only a few changes. The secretariat has become a board of directors with four members serving staggered four year terms, and positions of secretary and treasurer were added. All serve without financial remuneration. An Annual Meeting is held at the site of one of the institutional members and is usually held in the spring. It includes a business meeting and a varied program of subjects addressing common interests.

At an institutional level, CBHL offers consultation, workshops, and other training programs for members of library staffs; organize and develop cooperative programs such as coordinated acquisitions, shared or centralized cataloging, and the development of union lists/catalogs. Individual members within the botanical-horticultural library field have the opportunity to actively participate in the collective efforts of the organization. CBHL also publishes a Newsletter through which members are advised of significant events in other institutions. Lists of duplicate titles offered for sale from the collections of member libraries are regularly circulated.

CBHL brings together many specialized libraries and their librarians from the North American and international community. Membership in the Council of Botanical and Horticultural Libraries is open to botanical and horticultural libraries of both public and private institutions. Individual membership is available to librarians, interested persons from the horticulture and botany professions, and others who share this interest.