William B. Stern, 1910 – 1972

Hall of Fame Induction: 2010

Significant AALL Service

  • Chair, Committee on Cooperation with Latin-American Law Libraries, 1947–48, 1949–50
  • Chair, Committee on Foreign Law, 1950–54, 1956–57
  • Chair, Committee on Local Arrangements, 1952–53
  • Editor, Law Library Journal, 1953–54
  • Chair, Committee on Law Library Journal, 1954–58
  • William B. Stern Chair, Committee on the Budget, 1955–56
  • AALL Executive Board, 1955–58
  • Chair, Committee on Foreign Law Indexing, 1959–68
  • President, Southern California Association of Law Libraries, 1960–62
  • Chair, Program Committee, Annual Meeting, 1965–66
  • Chair, Foreign Law Indexing Committee, 1968–69
  • AALL President-Elect, 1968–69
  • AALL President, 1969–70
  • AALL Immediate Past President, 1970–71
  • Chair, Liaison with the Library of Congress Committee, 1970–71

Professional Honors and Awards

  • AALL Hall of Fame, Inaugural Class Inductee, 2010

Selected Publications by the Inductee

  • “The Treaty Background of the Italo-Ethiopian Dispute,” American Journal of International Law 30 (1936): 189–203.
  • Exterior Treason’—A Study in Comparative Criminal Law,” University of Chicago Law Review 6 (1938): 77–91 (with John N. Hazard).
  • “Canadian Court Rules,” Law Library Journal 33 (1940): 137–39.
  • “The Influence of Foreign Law on American Law,” Law Library Journal 33 (1940): 194–205.
  • “Mexican Marriages and Divorces,” Journal of the State Bar of California 20 (Mar.-Apr. 1945): 53–58.
  • “Latin American Law Books in Anglo American Law Libraries,” Law Library Journal 38 (1945): 4–11.
  • “Marriages by Proxy in Mexico,” Southern California Law Review 19 (1945): 109–16.
  • “Foreign Law Books in American Law Libraries,” Law Library Journal 40 (1947): 158–68.
  • “Income of Attorneys in Los Angeles,” Los Angeles Bar Bulletin 25 (1950): 195–202 (with Edward S. Feldman).
  • “A Bibliography of Books and Articles on Mohammedan Law in the English Language,” Law Library Journal 43 (1950): 16–21.
  • “History of Law Library Cataloging,” Law Library Journal 43 (1950): 272–78.
  • “Law Books for the Blind,” Law Library Journal 48 (1955): 150–54 (with Joseph L. Andrews).
  • “Practical Aspects of Classification,” Law Library Journal 49 (1956): 449–53.
  • “Foreign Law in the Courts: Judicial Notice and Proof,” California Law Review 45 (1957): 23–49.
  • “Foreign Legal Periodicals,” Journal of the State Bar of California 35 (1960): 743–49.
  • “Mexican Divorces—The Mexican Law,” Practical Lawyer 7 (May 1961): 78–85.
  • “Worldwide Responsibilities of American Law Librarians,” Law Library Journal 54 (1961): 139–44.
  • Comparative Law: The History of the Language Problem and the Use of Generic Terms,” Law Library Journal 55 (1962): 300–310.
  • The Law in the United States of America: A Selected Bibliographic Guide. New York: New York University Press, 1965. (With Joseph L. Andrews, Arthur A. Charpentier, and Julius J. Marke).
  • “International Judicial Assistance, Part I: Service and Discovery Abroad,” Practical Lawyer 14 (December 1968): 17–32.
  • “Class K—Law: Do We Need a Catalog?” Law Library Journal 61 (1968): 237–41.
  • “International Judicial Assistance, Part II: Depositions under Letters Rogatory,” Practical Lawyer 15 (Jan. 1969): 55–66.
  • Soviet Russian Legal Periodicals: Current or Presumed to be Current Holdings of Selected American Libraries,” Law Library Journal 62 (1969): 40–46.
  • “The Accessibility of Legal Developments through the Legal Periodical Literature,” Law Library Journal 63 (1970): 83–91.

Selected Publications about the Inductee

  • Forrest S. Drummond, “In Memory of William B. Stern,” Law Library Journal 65 (1972): 471.

Professional Positions

  • Cataloger, University of Chicago Law Library, 1937–39
  • Foreign Law Librarian and Head Cataloger, Los Angeles County Law Library, 1939–45
  • Foreign Law Librarian, Los Angeles County Law Library, 1945–71

Education

  • Doctor Juris Utriusque, University of Würzburg, 1933

Selected Professional Activities & Achievements (outside AALL)

  • Secretary, International Association of Law Libraries, 1959–62
  • President, International Association of Law Libraries, 1962–65
  • Member, Commission de bibliothèque, Association Internationale pour l’Enseignement dur Droit Comparé, 1962–70
  • Member, Board of Directors, International Association of Law Libraries, 1965–68