Robert C. Berring
Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law
University of California School of Law
Boalt Hall Law Library - Berkeley, CA
How I Became A Law Librarian
AALL Spectrum February, 2003
I became a law librarian because I wanted to stay in academia. Coming from a working-class family, I was amazed and astounded by the beauty of higher education. I worked 30 hours a week in my college's undergraduate library, eventually becoming night supervisor, and I really enjoyed it. While I was in law school, I was lucky enough to meet Morris Cohen, an impressive and kind law librarian at Harvard Law School. At the end of our meeting, I decided that I wanted to emulate him as much as possible. I then became a research assistant to Mike Jacobstein, the law librarian at Stanford Law School. With Cohen and Jacobstein as my role models, I was hooked. I have remained a law librarian because librarianship is the last truly service-oriented profession — and I have never found a better gig.
For More Information About Law Librarianship or the AALL Recruitment Committee, contact committee chair Sarah Mauldin.