See the following quotes:
“SOME GENERAL SERVICE
CONFERENCE 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.
1986: 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.”
“LET
LITERATURE CARRY THE MESSAGE, TOO
Today,
as in the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous, the A.A. Message of
recovery from alcoholism is carried by one alcoholic talking to
another.
However,
since the publication of the first edition of the Big Book in 1939,
literature has played an important role in spreading the A.A. Message
and imparting information about the A.A. Twelve Step program of
recovery.
A.A.
co-founder Bill W., who often called the influence of A.A. literature “incalculable,” wrote in the May 1964 issue of the Grapevine, “Suppose, for
instance, that during the last twenty-five years A.A. had never
published any standard literature…no books, no pamphlets. We need
little imagination to see that by now our message would be hopelessly
garbled. Our relations with medicine and religion would have become a
shambles. To alcoholics generally we would today be a joke and the
public would have thought us a riddle. Without its literature, A.A.
Would certainly have bogged down in a welter of controversy and
disunity.” (The Language of the Heart, p. 348)
Bill’s
words ring just as true today. The newcomer, walking into an A.A.
group for the first time, may be given a meeting list, basic recovery
pamphlets and, depending on the individual group conscience, perhaps
a copy of Living Sober or the Big Book. In 1992, the Conference
Literature Committee suggested that the trustees’ Literature
Committee develop literature committee guidelines comprised of shared
experience from the Fellowship.
These
guidelines provide a summary of shared experience of A.A.s in the
groups, central and intergroup offices, general service areas and
districts who have formed literature committees.”
(From;
AA Guidelines – Literature Committees p. 1)
"The
term 'Conference-approved' describes written or audiovisual material
approved by the Conference for publication by GSO. This
process assures that everything in such literature is in accord with
AA principles.
Conference-approved material always deals with the recovery program
of Alcoholics Anonymous or with information about the AA Fellowship."
"The term has no relation to material not published by GSO. It does not imply Conference disapproval of other material about AA. A great deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and AA does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or may not read."
"Conference approval assures us that a piece of literature represents solid AA experience. Any Conference-approved booklet or pamphlet goes through a lengthy and painstaking process, during which a variety of AAs from all over the United States and Canada read and express opinions at every stage of production."
"The term has no relation to material not published by GSO. It does not imply Conference disapproval of other material about AA. A great deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and AA does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or may not read."
"Conference approval assures us that a piece of literature represents solid AA experience. Any Conference-approved booklet or pamphlet goes through a lengthy and painstaking process, during which a variety of AAs from all over the United States and Canada read and express opinions at every stage of production."
(our emphases)
and:
Finally:
Comment:
From
the above it may be seen that the question of whether literature has
been “approved” or not should NOT be taken lightly. Most of the
material we have studied that has been produced by 'outside sources' - although
relying heavily on existing AA literature (approved) - contain
references which quite definitely run contrary to AA principles and
are even actually misleading in some instances e.g. prescribed
medication issues, directive sponsorship styles, religious bias,
recovery rates etc (and from sources such as Joe and Charlie, Dick B,
Primary Purpose, Back to Basics). All such should be
assessed judiciously and where they fail to meet appropriate standards of validity be discarded forthwith.
Cheerio
The
Fellas (Friends
of Alcoholics Anonymous)
