History

The History and Development of IATUL

IATUL was founded in Düsseldorf, Germany, as the International Association of Technological University Libraries in May 1955, as an international forum for the exchange of ideas relevant to librarianship in technological universities throughout the world. IATUL is a voluntary international non-governmental organisation of a group of libraries, represented by their library directors or senior managers, who have responsibility for information services and resources management. The expanded name of IATUL was changed to the International Association of Scientific and Technological University Libraries at the 2009 General Assembly to reflect the broader range of institutions, which now make up the membership of the association. At the 2014 Annual Conference in Helsinki, the General Assembly of IATUL decided to extend its mandate to include all university libraries internationally, irrespective of their academic specialisation. This change reflects the membership profile of IATUL where the vast majority of institutions now belong to comprehensive universities. Therefore, its name was changed to be the International Association of University Libraries.

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In the early years many of the members of IATUL came from Europe, where there were a number of well-established institutions for technological education. The eighteenth century had seen the founding of some of the earliest "schools" of this type in France, Germany and Hungary. The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of considerable economic and social growth and development. This period saw the increasing use of steam power for industry, the rapid change from local craft production to factory-based industries, and considerable improvements in communications. These changes led to an increased need for the provision of technical education and training, resulting in the founding of "trades and craft schools" and polytechnic institutions throughout Europe. Similar institutions were founded in the USA. The early members of IATUL came mostly from European universities of technology and from some American institutions. During the last twenty years there has been a steady growth in IATUL members coming from all parts of the world, resulting in a truly international organization.

At the 36^th Annual IATUL Conference in Hannover in 2015, IATUL celebrated its 60^th birthday. A presentation given by Vice President Gwendolyn Ebbett showed the most important and interesting milestones in the history of the association:

Gwendolyn Ebbett, IATUL Vice-President 2015
In the Service of University Libraries – A Review of IATUL History, 1955-2015

A detailed representation is the History of IATUL, written by Paul Sheehan. A shorter version based on the work of Paul Sheehan is the Concise History of IATUL by Karl Hughes:

History of IATUL by Paul Sheehan

Concise History by Karl Hughes

Past Presidents

Dr. E. Hemlin, Sweden (1955-1962)

Dr. L. J. van der Wolk, The Netherlands (1963-1966)

Dr. J. Mack, United States of America (1966-1969)

Prof. A. J. Evans, United Kingdom (1969-1975)

Mr. G. A. Hamel, The Netherlands (1975-1980)

Dr. J-P. Sydler, Switzerland (1980-1983)

Dr. S. Westberg, Sweden (1983-1986)

Dr. Dennis Shaw, United Kingdom (1986-1990)

Prof. Elin. Törnudd, Finland (1990-1992)

Dr. Gerald A. J. S. van Marle, The Netherlands (1992-1996)

Dr. Nancy Fjällbrant, Sweden (1996-2000)

Mr. Michael Breaks, United Kingdom (2000-2004)

Ms Gaynor Austen, Australia (2005-2006)

Ms Maria Heijne, The Netherlands (2007-2009)

Prof Ainslie Dewe, Australia (2010-2012)

Dr. Reiner Kallenborn, Germany (2013-2018)

Ms. Anne Horn, United Kingdom (2018-2020)

Dr. Charles Eckman, United States of America (2020-2021)

History

The History and Development of IATUL

Past Presidents

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