New Member Spotlight

In 2001, Debra Denslaw had been the Recruitment Coordinator for the Chicago Public Library for three years. She was inspired to enter library school by the enthusiasm and commitment of the many degreed librarians and support staff with whom she worked to fill career opportunities in this extensive urban library system. Debra pursued the first year of her MSLIS degree via distance education through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). During the second year of the masters program she was a graduate assistant in the Albert E. Jenner Jr. Law Library at UIUC, a valuable experience which led to her transition from the public library sphere into the law library profession. Prior to joining the library world, Debra practiced law for almost nine years in the Detroit area and in Chicago. She received her law degree from Valparaiso University and her BA degree from Franklin College ( Franklin, Indiana). Early career moves included positions in community education and college recruitment, and stints as a waitress and a bookstore clerk.

Since February 2004, Debra has been a Reference Librarian at the Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis where she primarily provides reference services, faculty liaison services, and legal research instruction in the research and writing program and coordinates the law library’s newsletter. She currently serves as Chair of the ALL SIS Education Committee.

Matt Steinke joined Michael E. Moritz Law Library, at Ohio State University in 2004. As Reference Librarian, he manages the Library’s government documents, provides reference services to students, faculty and staff, and teaches a section of the first year Legal Research class. He is currently enrolled in the MLIS program at Kent State University and expects to graduate next year.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Matt grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Cincinnati and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota. After law school, he returned to Ohio where he practiced law for four years with Altick & Corwin, specializing in municipal law and employment law. Matt is a member of both the Ohio and Minnesota State Bars. While he enjoyed the intellectual challenges of practicing law, he had a strong preference for working in the congenial and team-oriented setting present in academia. He adds, “I enjoy working with legal issues and assisting patrons in the collegial environment of the library.”

Matt learned about law librarianship from AALL’s Recruitment to Law Librarianship site. He states, “The AALL site has resources on recruitment which helped me decide whether a career in law librarianship is right for me. I contacted individuals on the Recruitment Committee, asked questions and got quick responses. I joined AALL, and I’m glad I did.”