Leslie Thrasher wanted to share with all of our members a presentation given recently by one of her colleagues at Womble Caryle. Titled "Attributes of Law Librarians: What to look for," it is a reminder of the skills we need to succeed in our jobs, and particularly useful for those in hiring positions. Below is the presentation:

ATTRIBUTES OF LAW LIBRARIANS
What to Look For
Amanda Vann - Charlotte Librarian, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice

It is important to define and then understand what makes certain qualities necessary in the day-to-day tasks a librarian must accomplish. A librarian must be able to fulfill requests from all law firm personnel - attorneys, paralegals, office managers, marketing and office staff.

A broad list of attributes would include a good education, a vast amount of law library experience, good common sense, excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both verbal and written), the ability to multi-task, the ability to be very organized and detail-oriented, having self-confidence and self-knowledge and the ability to meet the physical demands the maintenance of the collection requires. It can be difficult to evaluate (both in the hiring phase and later in the evaluation process) when someone is excellent in their field.

Under these broad headings are some specific skills.

· Salesmanship
·· Librarians must sell their personal services as information providers and researchers.
·· Librarians should market the resources in the collection they maintain and the various services they select for the library.
·· The librarian must constantly promote continuing education and training in the services available to attorneys, the firm's marketing professionals and staff.
·· Librarians must be inherently service oriented. Their accessibility and visibility to everyone in the firm and their consistent performance will promote user confidence.
·· Librarians must be creative and innovative self-starters.
·· The librarian must be adept at staying informed about innovations in the field of librarianship, the current information resource trends and in marketing the services of the library.
·· The librarian must be able to prioritize requests and handle stressful deadlines.

· Listening skills or "The Interview"
·· A library user will often send a request to the librarian by voice mail, email or memo. The librarian must be proficient at guiding conversations or the exchange of emails to obtain as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time.
·· The librarian should be dedicated to user service.
·· The librarian should be fully available and communicative.

· Research skills
This is where the education component and the amount of library and life experience come into play.
·· The librarian must be competent and comfortable with technology.
·· The librarian must have a vast knowledge of resources.
·· The librarian should be analytical and have the ability to think and work creatively.
·· Librarians must be curious and persistent. They love the thrill of the chase!

· Networking
·· It is necessary for the librarian to attend professional meetings and conferences and conscientiously foster working relationships with peers.
·· The librarian needs to have access to resources not within the scope of the immediate collection.

· Financial skills
·· The librarian must have knowledge of the practice groups, the resources available to them and be able to suggest the best forms of these resources.
·· The librarian envisions the collection growth and the positioning of the collection within the actual library space.
·· The librarian is able to plan and implement a physical move of the library.
·· The librarian negotiates contracts with vendors and arranges compensation for unsatisfactory service or defective products.

· Teaching
·· Librarians are responsible for customized training in information products for all users.
· Social skills
·· Librarians have to be able to successfully work with and socialize with all attorneys, staff, clients, vendors, trainers and the general public.
·· Librarians must be accessible, flexible and capable of multi-tasking.

· Supervisory skills
·· The librarian must be capable of hiring, training and supervising a library staff.
In conclusion, I urge you to use this information when hiring and evaluating your librarian. I suggest that you thoughtfully decide what you need in a librarian and what you will pay. It will not be cost effective if you hire someone who is not properly skilled to do the job. The process of having your librarian train on the job will be frustrating for all concerned.