Section News
Apply now for Equal Justice Conference grants
Annual Meeting Grant info also available
The SCCLL Grants Committee has posted the application for grants to attend the Equal Justice Conference and the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting on the Scholarship and Grants page. The application deadline is January 15, 2009, for the Equal Justice Conference grant, so if you're interested, take a look now. The application deadline for the AALL Annual Meeting grant is April 1, 2009.
County Commissioners Association of Ohio Calls Law Library Legislation a Priority and a Necessity
In its latest Statehouse Report, the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) names the current law library legislation a priority, noting that "Under the proposal, monies collected from state imposed fines and penalties for law libraries would have oversight and management. Counties always have expressed a concern that the law library associations, as private non-profit associations, receive and manage the fine and penalty money without any public scrutiny." Later, the CCAO says that "there is no public supervision or oversight of how the association spends that public funding", neglecting to acknowledge the regular state audit of public funds and the service the libraries provide counties, courts, and the public. The article then goes on to summarize the legislation and to note that "Commissioners should ... expect requests and in some cases substantial pressure, to make appropriations to the law library resources fund," referring to the counties' compensation of law librarians as "an unfunded mandate". (From www.ohiolawlibrary.org, Monday, Nov. 3, 2008.)
California law library takes Library of the Year honors
Click here for more details!
The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) named California’s Law Library for San Bernardino County as the 2008 Federal Depository Library of the Year. The library services the largest county, in land area, in the United States. The library has made great strides in offering its residents resources to government information. To meet the needs of its patrons, the library has extended its hours of operation, developed a new and improved user-friendly website and offers the AskNow Law Librarian online reference service. The library staff also conducts extensive public outreach by promoting law library materials and services to civic and community organizations. To continue to maintain an open relationship with the public, the library conducts customer satisfaction survey’s and uses the results to improve services where needed. Public Printer Robert C. Tapella presented the award to library officials at the annual Fall Federal Depository Library Conference.
Fall Newsletter now available!
The Fall issue of the SCCLL News is now available. Click this link to view a pdf of the newsletter. Read reports on the 2008 Court Solutions Conference, the AALL conference in Portland, pending law library legislation in Ohio, the Election Special edition of "Charley's Corner," and more.
Nominations sought for Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, Member-at-Large
The SCCLL Nominations Committee is seeking nominations for candidates for these two positions, which will become vacant in July 2009.
- Vice-Chair/Chair Elect
- Board Member to serve on SCCLL's Executive Committee
Each position requires a three-year time commitment beginning with the July 2009 AALL Annual Meeting to be held in Washington, DC. Click here for all the details about position responsibilities.
If you don't want to put your hat in the ring, please think of another talented and committed SCCLL member who might be interested and forward the names to any member of the SCCLL Nominations committee:
Anne McDonald amcdonald@riag.ri.gov
Donna Bausch dbausch@norfolklawlibrary.org
Janet Camillo jcamillo@mcccourt.com
Sandy Marz smarz@washoecounty.us
Early submissions are encouraged to allow the committee ample time to put a slate together, but the absolute deadline is December 5, 2008. Please contact the above members with any questions you may have.
SCCLL publishes Resource Guide #3: Management Essentials in the Public Law Library
The SCCLL Resource Guide #3 is now officially published and ready to be sent out from AALL HQ. The guide to ordering is here: http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_insights.asp.
Guide #3, Management Essentials in the Public Law Library
This guide discusses key management principles for the public law library. Although all law libraries are different, many principles—such as budget, resource management, and community relations—must be addressed by all public law libraries. This guide explores five core principles of management via insightful articles from the State, Court, and County Law Libraries Special Interest Section membership: budget/financial planning and negotiation; working with the board; community relations; service development and collection rebalancing; and managing resources.
Price: $10 members/$12 non-members
Thanks to the many authors who aided in the creation of this publication. John Cannan helped spearhead this effort and he would like to thank Sara Galligan and Lisa Jackson for putting in yeoman service looking things over and giving advice on edits. Julia O’Donnell at AALL always does a fantastic job and did so here. Finally, Maureen McGuire did the layout and made it come to life.
Ohio County Law Library Update:
We are all concerned about the situation regarding legislation relating to Ohio County Law Libraries. Our executive board recently asked you to participate in an online poll to determine whether or not our SIS should expend funds to assist Ohio County Law Libraries in their lobbying efforts. After review, we have determined that we are unable to make an expenditure of this type as many of our members dues are paid by institutions that do not allow lobbying.
However, members may send letters of support and or contributions to the Chair of the Coalition for County Law Libraries, Angela Baldree, Lake County Law Library, 47 N. Park Pl. Painesville, OH 44077.
Checks should be made payable to “Akron Law Library” (with Governmental Policy Group, Inc. in the memo field).
What to include in your letter: you can include in your letter "anything about the need for access [to county law libraries] in every county with guaranteed funding." Angela Baldree, Lake County Law Library.
Marcus Hochstetler
Chair, SCCLL-SIS
PowerPoint, handouts for "We Are the World" program available
Jean Wenger of Cook County Law Library has provided the handouts and slides for her Portland presentation, "We Are the World: Dealing with Foreign Issues in a U.S. Law Library." Visit the "SCCLL-SIS Sponsored Programs" page for a description of the program and links to the materials.
Seeking feedback on Portland SCCLL programs
The SCCLL-SIS sponsored "Giving Credit: The Law Library as CLE Provider" and "We Are the World: Dealing with Foreign Issues in a U.S. Law Library" in Portland. If you attended one of these two programs, please let us know your reactions to the presentations and the quality and knowledge of the speakers. We would like to continue to offer programs where possible and your input is greatly appreciated! Please click here for questions and contact information.