The World Association to Promote Bahá'í Libraries and Archives

Mission:

To promote the development of viable Bahá'í libraries and archives, the preservation of published and unpublished documents, and the training of Bahá'í librarians and archivists.

History:

The World Association to Promote Bahá'í Libraries and Archives (WABLA) was founded at the first International Conference on Bahá'í Libraries and Archives at Landegg International University, Wienacht, Switzerland, 2-4 January, 2003.

WABLA membership is currently considered to be all those who express an interest in the aims of the association.

Before the establishment of this association, there was a loose network of Bahá'í librarians, archivists and other information professionals who wanted to work together to share their professional experiences in service to the Bahá'í community. The network arose in response to a communication from The Universal House of Justice, the international governing council of the Bahá'í community, through its secretariat, to William Collins on 31 January 1995:

"Prior to the establishment of closer links between the World Centre Library and those outside the World Centre, a pool of professional Bahá'í Librarians needs to be identified and organized into some sort of association in order that the necessary human resources are in place to support such a development."

Networking and resource-sharing by the Bahá'í World Centre Library and by other World Centre information agencies such as the Archives depend upon the creation and strengthening of ties among Bahá'í librarians, archivists and other information workers.

The network prepared an irregular newsletter, entitled Scriptum, available via the Web. Scriptum is intended for news of the Association, articles on information science topics, descriptions of Bahá'í classifications, case studies, sample cataloging for new publications received at the Bahá'í World Centre Library, and other features potentially useful to Bahá'í libraries and archives.

Membership

Until completion of a charter and determination of fees, membership requirements are loose.  You may connect with the Association by completing an "Expression of Interest" form and e-mailing it to the contact address.  This will result in your being included in the Bahá'í Libraries and Archives listserv.
 

INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES: the institution charged with responsibility for the preservation of the Sacred Texts and Relics and the historic documents of the Cause of God.

INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY: ...the central depository of all literature published on the Faith, ... an essential source of information for the institutions of the World Centre on all subjects ... In future decades ... it will serve as an active center for knowledge in all fields, and it will become the kernel of great institutions of scientific investigation and discovery.