History of the ALCTS Council of Regional Groups
The history of CRG began in 1922 with a call from Margaret Mann, then chair of the Committee on the Reorganization of the Catalog Section, to catalogers in various parts of the country to discuss the problems involved with such a reorganization. One of her approaches for implementing these deliberations was to hold regional meetings to discuss common problems. The first successful regional meeting was held in St. Paul-Minneapolis.
A report submitted at the 1923 ALA conference recommended that the Catalog Section sanction regional meetings and adopt simple rules for the affiliated groups. Each group was to consist of at least 10 members, have its own officers and determine its own dues. Each group would hold at least one meeting each year preceding the annual meeting of the Catalog Section and send a report of its meeting to the Chair of the Catalog Section. The committee also recommended that an Advisory Council be formed consisting of one representative from each affiliated group. By 1928 the work of the Advisory Council had broadened to include assisting the groups with programs and other matters, similar to what Council of Regional Groups does today, and the name of the umbrella group was changed to Committee on Regional Groups. In 1947 when the new constitution was adopted in San Francisco, the group became the Council of Regional Groups and the functions of the Council were broadened and strengthened. By 1950 there were 20 groups affiliated with CRG. In the late 1980s the by-laws were rewritten establishing two standing committees, shortening terms of officers, and creating representatives to many ALCTS committees. The two CRG committees established were the Speakers Bureau and the Affiliate Relations Committee. The Council of Regional Groups currently has forty-nine affiliate members.
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Council of Regional Groups