Core Purpose of AALL
AALL strengthens the profession of law librarianship and supports the individual efforts of its members.
Core Values of AALL
AALL values:
- Lifelong learning and intellectual growth
- The role of the law librarian in a democratic society
- Equitable and permanent access to legal information
- Continuous improvement in the quality of justice
- Community
GOAL I: LEADERSHIP
Law librarians benefit from a strong Association. A strong Association articulates the collective vision of law librarians and enhances the stature of individual librarians as leaders in their workplace and in access to legal information worldwide.
Objectives:
- Increase the recognition of AALL by the legal profession, information vendors, government, and the public as the premier resource for legal information issues and the law library profession.
- Support and mentor the development of law librarians at all experience levels as leaders in their professional environment.
- Partner with legal and information organizations to promote the financial and economic benefits of employing law librarians.
- Promote opportunities for members to hold leadership positions within AALL and its entities.
- Increase and improve communication and collaboration within the Association and with its entities, Chapters, and related organizations.
- Develop new non-dues revenue sources to expand membership benefits, grants, and scholarships.
GOAL II: EDUCATION
Law librarians will have the education and training they need to meet and leverage the challenges of the changing information environment in a global world.
Objectives:
- Support and expand an affordable education curriculum based on the core competencies.
- Develop specialized educational programs addressing the diverse needs of members.
- Broaden use of formats, media, and technologies in educational programming to provide a productive experience for all members.
- Collaborate with library and information schools to promote law librarianship, and participation in related educational opportunities.
GOAL III: ADVOCACY
Law librarians will be innovative and progressive in influencing legal and government information policies in the public and private sector.
Objectives:
- Increase communication to law librarians, their employers, information vendors and the public about the value of law libraries and the critical role legal information professionals play in a global society.
- Promote the value of public law libraries at the local, state and federal level including the need for appropriate funding levels and policies.
- Promote AALL policies that support members and their institutions in establishing fair and equitable business relationships with legal publishers.
- Expand communication channels with information vendors regarding products, product development, and related policies.
- Continue advocacy efforts to ensure the authentication and preservation of official digital legal resources.
- Continue to advocate that government information must be in the public domain, and that information on government websites must be permanently available to the public at no charge.
- Work with the Library of Congress and other national and international organizations to ensure bibliographic standards and other standards necessary for full access to information.