Area 34 Literature Committee -

If you have any questions, or would
like to see something brought to the Area Assemblies :
Area 34 Literature
Chairperson email:

PRINTABLE LITERATURE ORDER
FORM

Let Literature Carry the
Message, Too

Purpose
of a Literature Chairperson

References for
Literature Committee Chairs

Some Literature
Committee Advisory Actions

The 4th Edition of our Big
Book

Purpose
of a Literature Chairperson

Whether group, central office or intergroup, area or district, a literature
chairperson:

Informs groups, district or area assembly members, through displays and
other suitable methods, of all available Conference-approved literature,
audiovisual material and other special items.

Provides service-oriented literature for groups and area and district
functions as funded.

Considers suggestions regarding proposed additions to and changes in
Conference-approved literature and audiovisual materials.

Encourages A.A. members to read and purchase A.A. Conference-approved
literature.

Excerpted from “A.A. Guidelines/Literature
Committees”

References
for Literature Committee Chairs

An over view of the substance and content of our literature is found in
the A.A. Service Manual.

A “job description” for a literature chairperson is found in “The A.A.
Group” pamphlet (page 28). This description equally relates to the district
function.

Conference-approved Literature and Other Service Material
(catalog) with corresponding order form.

Service Material Available from G.S.O. This service piece is an
excellent source of material that will aid in informing your district and
GSRs.

Box 4-5-9 (order form). A.A.’s bimonthly newsletter carries the
most recent A.A. announcements and news from across the U.S. and Canada, as
well as A.A. worldwide. Encourage the GSRs in your district to suggest that
their groups subscribe to Box 4-5-9, and ask permission of your
district to order a bulk subscription for your literature table.

The Literature Chairperson Information form (available from G.S.O.)
may be filled out and sent to G.S.O.’s Literature Coordinator. Please make a
copy available to your area literature chairperson. These forms may also be
made available to the GSRs in your district to take back to their groups to
register their literature representative.

Excerpted from “A.A. Guidelines/Literature
Committees”

Some
Literature Committee Advisory Actions

It was recommended that:

1968: Conference-approved literature and G.S.O. Guidelines be displayed and
distributed at assembly meetings

1969: One group member be chosen to be solely responsible for the
distribution of Conference-approved literature and its display.

1971: The delegates assume responsibility for informing A.A.s of all
available Conference-approved literature, and that the updated spring and fall
literature order blanks which are mailed with Box 4-5-9 be reviewed at
district and assembly meetings.

1972: It be suggested that when a local A.A. facility (central office,
intergroup, group, etc.) sells non-Conference-approved literature, it be
clearly designated as such.

1977: It was suggested that A.A. groups be discouraged from selling
literature not distributed by the General Service Office and the Grapevine.

1986; In an effort to strengthen our network of literature representatives
to ensure that A.A. literature is available at meetings, as well as catalog
order forms for books and cassettes that individuals are likely to want, it is
suggested that groups appoint literature coordinators.
The spirit of the 1977 Conference action regarding group literature displays
be reaffirmed, and recommended the suggestion that A.A. groups be encouraged
to display or sell only literature published and distributed by the General
Service Office, the A.A. Grapevine and other A.A. entities.

Excerpted from “A.A. Guidelines/Literature
Committees”

The
4th Edition of our Big Book

Reflects Today’s Diverse Membership: In the 25 years since the third
edition of Alcoholics Anonymous was published, the Fellowship has grown
from about 440,000 members in the U.S. and Canada to more than two million
throughout the world, and sweeping changes have taken place in its membership.
Because the personal experiences in our basic text are designed to help as
many alcoholics as possible identify with those who have recovered, the 2001
General Service Conference approved a fourth edition of the Big Book, with a
revised and updated section of personal stories (as always, the first 164
pages remain unchanged). The new
edition, which comes off press in November 2001, contains the experience of 42
sober alcoholics – 24 new and 16 “keepers” from the third edition – and
represents a wide spectrum of ages, beliefs, racial and ethnic groups,
backgrounds, and occupations. The culmination of four years of development,
more than 25 committee meetings, and untold individual hours of hard work and
painful decision-making, the fourth edition of Alcoholics Anonymous
brings a clear and accurate reflection of the Fellowship as it enters the
twenty-first century.

Making Difficult Choices: When the first edition of the Big book was
written, the challenge was to find enough solidly sober members – who could
write – to round out a representative section of personal stories.
When the story section of the fourth edition was being developed, the
challenge was to single out approximately 24 personal stories from and
impressive group of manuscripts submitted by more than 1,200 solidly sober,
and very enthusiastic, A.A. members.
How is it possible to select the “best” when dealing with A.A. sharing? The
subcommittee of the trustees’ Literature Committee charged with the
responsibility of developing the fourth edition would answer that question
quite simply: It is not. There is no such thing as “best.” Yet choices had to
be made – not only in selecting new material, but also in deciding which
stories to retain from the third edition and which to leave out. . . .
. . . Every story was exhaustively reviewed: each was read by individual
members of the subcommittee, then by members working in pairs, and finally by
the full committee. Before the 2000 Conference, they enlisted the help of the
Conference Literature Committee and other members of the trustee’s Literature
Committee to help pare down a short list of 38 new stories to the needed 245.
And before the manuscript went to the Conference, the stories were turned over
to G.S.O.’s publications department for several rounds of editing. . .

Your New Big Book: The General Service Board sent a complimentary
copy of the fourth edition Big Book to each group, as a deeply-felt “thank
you” for the thoughtful contributions that resulted in this new edition. These
contributions came from individuals who donated their time and talent by
sending their personal A.A. stories, as well as to groups throughout the U.S.
and Canada whose basket money helps support the General Service Conference
which deliberated over the fourth edition for the past four years.
Between mid-November and early December, the fourth edition will be sent to
each GSR or other group contact listed in our records as of October 19th.
We hope that this new edition will help continue carrying our message of
recovery to the still-suffering alcoholic in the twenty-first century.

Excerpted from “Box 4-5-9/October-November
2001″

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