Adeen Postar is the Deputy Director of the Pence Law Library at the Washington College of Law, American University. At American, she teaches Advanced Legal Research Techniques and frequently lectures to various groups of Washington College of Law students on many subjects, including administrative law research, securities law, IP law, and other topics. She is the Associate Editor (with Frank Houdek) of Hein’s State Practice Materials, Annotated Bibliographies and she is currently working on the chapter on Maryland law.
Adeen has served on several law school committees, including the Admissions Committee, the Student Services Working Group, and is a member of the Faculty Board for the Administrative Law Review. Her work at American includes library administration, reference, and she is currently chair of the Collection Development Committee. Prior to coming to American, she worked as the managing librarian of the Washington office of Blank Rome LLP (1998 - 2004), at the Williams Law Library at Georgetown University Law Center as the Coordinator of External Services (1985 - 1997), and as a reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress (1983 - 1985).
Adeen is active in AALL, as well as in LLSDC and SEAALL. Currently she is the incoming chair of AALL’s Research and Publications Committee and has been part of many AALL programs over the years both as coordinator and presenter. At LLSDC she is the current chair of the Mentoring Committee and at SEAALL she is a member of the Education Committee. Her recent service in ALL-SIS includes membership in the Faculty Services Committee and the Student Services Committee.
Adeen has a BA and a JD from Washington University and an MSLS from Catholic University. She is a member of the bar in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Before becoming a librarian, she practiced law in Rhode Island and Virginia.
This is a challenging time to be a law librarian. The ground is constantly shifting around us and for some, it may seem almost impossible to gain any traction. Helping our members gain traction, by which I mean knowledge and support and feedback, is what ALL-SIS is all about. It is a difficult time to be an academic law librarian. Many of our libraries are in dire financial straits. Many of our law students are facing great difficulties in finding legal jobs. Law school faculty face increased pressure to publish and teach. Many recent directorships that have been filled, have not been filled by our members. Tenure for directors is increasingly problematic. Let’s not forget about the astounding technical changes in digitized information and how that impacts our collections and our teaching. All of this makes the 2nd decade of the 21st century a pivotal time in our profession. It would be a privilege and honor to help lead the members of ALL-SIS and find innovative solutions and approaches to some of these problems.
