The Madison Area Library Council (MALC) was established to support cooperation among the various types of libraries and information centers located in Madison and Dane County, Wisconsin. MALC was formed on February 24, 1970, following an extensive study conducted by Dr. Charles Bunge of the University of Wisconsin Library School during 1968 and 1969, with funding from a Title III federal grant of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). Prior to its actual organization, an advisory committee representing library administrators from selected libraries and information centers in the Madison area assisted with Bunge's research. The results of his study were published in 1969 in a report entitled “Library Cooperation for the Madison Area: A Survey with Recommendations.”
The council's first officers were President: Bernard Schwab of the Madison Public Library; Vice President: Louis Kaplan of the UW Memorial Library; Secretary: Kenneth Taylor, representing Madison Public Schools; and Treasurer: Donald Lamb of the Dane County Library System. In addition, MALC's executive board consisted of ten elected members representing public, school, academic, and special libraries and information centers in Madison and Dane County. Frances Wood was appointed as the first coordinator, and she was responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the council. Other MALC presidents during the 1970s were Virginia Holtz, Richard Sorensen, Sue Center, John Kopischke, and John Peters. Coordinators included Ann Clark, Maurine Smalley, Barbara Hanaway, and Judith Royster.
MALC was incorporated under Wisconsin statutes as a non-stock, non-profit corporation “to promote and implement programs of cooperation and communication among all libraries and other information sources in Dane County.” In addition the council pledged (1) To assure the most effective use of the resources and services of the area; (2)To facilitate the improvement of existing library service activities; and (3) To provide a basis for initiating new resources and services as needed. The Madison Public Library located at 201 West Mifflin Street was the MALC mailing address, office headquarters, and clearinghouse. In 1979 the organization relocated to the Beltline Office Center at 6414 Copps Avenue in Madison; in 1980 it moved to 1922 University Avenue.
Initially, a federal grant under the same Title III program that funded the Bunge study underwrote many MALC operations. Council membership was open to “any library, information source or cooperative agency coordinating or representing such institutions” and membership dues also provided some funds. By 1973, however, MALC no longer received LSCA funding and, as a result, from 1973 to 1975 it operated without a coordinator. In 1975 the South Central Library System (SCLS) was established. This alliance allowed MALC to again fund the position of coordinator. In 1976 MALC voted to become coterminous with SCLS, with the result that libraries and information centers in Sauk County and Green County became eligible for MALC membership.
One of the first goals for MALC was creation of a directory of library resources in the Madison and Dane County areas. Such a directory would “establish a central clearinghouse for collection and dissemination of data about information resources in greater detail.” These publications were intended to include information about newspaper and journal holdings, abstracting and indexing services, as well as directories, reference materials, and specialized services. Some of the publications MALC produced as a result were the Directory of Dane County Libraries and Information Centers - 1970; 1971 Campus Collections at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Directory of Library and Information Sources in Dane and Sauk Counties, 2nd ed., 1973; Directory of Libraries and Information Sources in Dane, Green and Sauk Counties, 3rd ed., 1978-81; Union List of Periodicals in Dane and Sauk County Libraries, 2nd ed., 1976; and Newspapers Currently Received in Major Madison Area Collections, 1972, 1976. The Publication Committee oversaw production of these titles, as well as the monthly newsletter, the MALC Informer.
Other committees were formed either on an ad hoc or more permanent basis. Of particular note was the Cable Communications Committee, which worked to establish the library's role in facilitating the use of cable television. Two members of the committee, Bernard Schwab and Maurice Leon, presented the MALC statement on cable communications at a hearing before the Governor's Commission on Cable Television in 1972.
MALC was one of a few regional cooperative library councils located in Wisconsin. The Library Council of Metropolitan Milwaukee (LCOMM), North East Wisconsin Intertype Libraries (NEWIL), and the Tri-County Library Council (TLC) shared similar objectives, and conducted comparable activities. In fact, these groups were modeled after MALC. Locally, MALC also cooperated with the UW-Extension and SCLS to provide additional programs and services to its members and to others interested in cooperative activities.
Prompted by dwindling federal support and declining membership, MALC drafted a new statement of purpose as part of an attempt at revival in 1984. However, MALC continued to struggle, and at the May 1986 annual meeting, the members unanimously voted to merge with SCLS. MALC became the Multitype Advisory Library Committee of SCLS, which continues to promote library cooperation in the Madison, Dane County, and South Central Wisconsin area.
