I wasn't aware that there had once been a National Librarians Association, but thanks to Walt for mentioning it in the comments of a previous post. I've been doing a little bit of research on it, may even try to develop it into an article or a series of blog posts. Anyway, for those of you who, like me, had never heard of NLA, here's an excerpt from the opening two paragraphs from an article written by Peter Dollard (at that time, Executive Director of NLA):

[...] In brief, NLA was founded in 1975 to meet a need long felt by many librarians for a national professional association that would concern itself exclusively with librarian issues rather than with the entire gamut of issues related to libraries in society. It is not that those other issues are not important; to the contrary, members of NLA share a conviction that excellence in general library service can be developed only after the highest standards of performance for librarian practitioners have been identified, articulated, and put into practice. The established library associations, however, having opened their membership to all interested persons, have traditionally attempted to deal in a disinterested manner with the entire range of library-related issues, often giving short shrift to issues of concern primarily to librarians. [...]

Here's the citation: Peter Dollard, "The National Librarians Association and Association Credibility," Colorado Libraries 7:4 (December 1981): 27-32. NLA lasted, as far as I can tell, into the early 1990s.