Greetings from 53 W. Jackson Blvd.! It’s hard to believe that we’re into the middle of September already and well into yet another busy fall season. This year you will see increased activity in both our continuing education and in our public policy program areas, due in no small part to our recent hires of Celeste Smith as Education Manager and Bryan Stevens as our Advocacy/Communications Assistant in the Washington Office. We’re excited about the year ahead and I look forward to keeping you apprised of all the activities and opportunities that will be coming your way. Here are a few to get you started:
- AALL’s new Continuing Education Grants Program (CEGP) helps fund educational programming outside of the AALL Annual Meeting.
- Chapters, SISs, member institutions, and individual AALL members are eligible for funding.
- Guidelines for proposals and the proposal application form are available online at www.aallnet.org/prodev/grant_program.asp.
- The deadline for the second round of proposals is November 27, 2006.
The Library Law Firm Management Workshop will take place October 18th, 2006 in Washington, D.C. Here’s where you can learn to:
- Identify the key constituents in the firm – both users and non-users—and to analyze the library’s current relationship with that constituency.
- Design a plan of improvement for library services.
- List key elements of a needs assessment for their firm.
- Outline an information audit.
- Describe the key ways law firms measure success.
- Develop a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis of their library services.
Space is limited to only 75 participants and spots are filling fast, so be sure to register early.
The AALL Awards Committee is now accepting nominations for eight categories: the AALL/Thomson West Excellence in Marketing Award, the Chapter Professional Development Award, the Joseph L. Andrews Bibliographical Award, the Law Library Journal and AALL Spectrum Article of the Year Awards, the Law Library Publications Award, the CRIV New Product Award, the Public Access to Government Information Award, and the profession’s highest honor, the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award.
The deadline for nominations is February 1st. Detailed information on the awards and who to contact can be found here.
The Washington Office recently released the inaugural issue of our new electronic newsletter, The AALL Washington E-Bulletin. Each issue covers current action alerts, updates on the recent activities of the Washington Office, news from AALL chapters, and a section of interesting reading material. The E-Bulletin will be distributed via the AALL Advocacy discussion list (click here if you wish to subscribe) and will also be posted to the Washington Office web site.
The Library Copyright Alliance, of which AALL is a member, along with the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Medical Library Association (MLA), and the Special Libraries Association (SLA), has an action alert in support of the Orphan Works Act. Orphan works are those for which the copyright owner is difficult or impossible to find when a library or museum seeks permission for copyrighted works. Your calls and letters are needed to ensure its passage. More information can be found on the AALL Washington Office web site.
Professional Legal Management Week (PLMW) provides a forum for recognizing those in legal management for what they do and the roles they play in the success of the organization and in its service to its clients and those who work in the organization. AALL is one of nine associations co-sponsoring the event with the Association of Legal Administrators.
The objectives of Professional Legal Management Week are:
- to provide awareness, understanding and education about the legal management profession, and
- to increase knowledge of the diverse roles within the profession.
AALL members are encouraged to plan and promote events for the week. The Professional Legal Management Week Web site includes resources to help you set up events, including a fact sheet, suggestions for planning events, a flyer, logos and advertisements.
Please join the fun in celebrating the 2nd annual Professional Legal Management Week!
The AALL Membership and Retention Committee is sponsoring a 500-word writing contest to find out why membership in AALL is important to you. We want to know what you’ve gained and what you value from your membership, including illustrative examples or anecdotes.
Three winners will receive free full registrations to the New Orleans Meeting next summer. Entries will be divided into three groups based on years as a law librarian: 1-5 years, 5-10 years, and 10+ years. Judging criteria will be based on originality, creativity, and quality and clarity of writing. Deadline for receipt of entries is Friday, December 15, 2006.
So, rise to the challenge! As we embark on AALL’s second 100 years, we invite you to tell us the reasons why you belong to AALL. For more information, see page 38 of the upcoming September/October issue of AALL Spectrum or contact Claudia Jalowka, chair of the Membership and Retention Committee.
Heritage Preservation and the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works invite nominations for the 2007 Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections. This annual award recognizes archives, museums, and libraries that have demonstrated exemplary and sustained commitment to caring for their collections.
Successful nominations attest to a broad institutional commitment to exemplary care of collections over a sustained period of time. Self-nominations are welcome. Nomination guidelines and a list of previous recipients can be found online. Nominations must be postmarked by December 15, 2006.
An excellent resource to learn what’s going on nationally and internationally is the AALL Calendar of Events. It's a great way to publicize your activities, so please stop by and post often.
Last week Grzegorz Chroscinski emailed from Poland with this request:
"I am a teacher at Gimnazjum School of John Paul II in Poland. We are a rather small school with not so many students. We have decided to create a kind of English Book Library in our school just to give students the opportunity to read English books. At school we also have a “Today’s Law and Justice Club” organize by young people interested in problems connected with the law. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to buy many books so we are looking for some publishers, organizations and institutions that would be able to help us. We would be especially interested in law books and everything that is connected with law, history, and justice. We would be really grateful if you could help us. We are looking forward to hearing from you very soon."
If you have books for this program please send them directly to:
Grzegorz Chroscinski
Westerplatte 1/6
33-200 Dabrowa T.
Poland
Gregor1966@tien.pl
Sincerely,
Susan E. Fox, CAE
Executive Director
American Association of Law Libraries
53 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 940
Chicago, IL 60604
312-939-4764, ext. 11
Fax 312-431-1097
AALL: Maximizing the Power of the Law Library Community Since 1906.
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