LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS AND  TRAINING The first and largest association established for the study of librarianship was the

American Library Association (1876) . The Library Association of the United Kingdom was formed in 1877 as an outcome of the first International Library Conference, held at London, and in 1898 it received a royal charter . It publishes a Year Book, the monthly Library Association Record, and a number of professional handbooks . It also holds examinations in Literary History, Bibliography and Library Economy, and issues certificates and diplomas . There are also English and Scottish district library associations . The Library Assistants Association was formed in 1895 and has branches in different parts of England, Wales and Ireland . It issues a monthly magazine entitled The Library Assistant . There is an important Library Association in Germany which issues a year-book giving information concerning the libraries of the country, and a similar organization in Austria-Hungary which issues a magazine at irregular intervals . An Association of Archivists and Librarians was formed at Brussels in 1907, and there are similar societies in France, Italy, Holland and elsewhere . In every country there is now some kind of association for the study of librarianship, archives or bibliography . International conferences have been held at London, 1877; London, 1897; Paris (at Exhibition), 1903; St Louis, 19041 Brussels (preliminary), 1908; and Brussels, 1910 .