Christine on community and an outstanding moment at the AM2015 Seattle Meeting
Christine Bowersox is a Training and Research Librarian with LAC Group, on assignment at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in New York, NY.
WHY DID YOU JOIN AALL?
I joined AALL after getting my first post-degree law librarian position. My former director introduced me to the organization by lending me her Spectrum and Law Library Journal publications. She encouraged me to get my own membership in order to explore the many other offerings. Once I was a full-fledged member, I went to my first AALL meeting (Seattle) with her and realized that the publications were only the beginning of the vast amount of resources that were at my disposal in joining this organization.
WHY DO YOU STAY A MEMBER?
It’s important to me to maintain a sense of community within my career field and maintaining my membership to this organization is not only my key into the community but into the network of knowledge that exists within AALL. By reaching out to other law librarians I can be a nerd with people who understand what on Earth I’m actually talking about!
WHAT ONE MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT IS MOST VALUABLE TO YOU?
Attending the Annual Meeting has been invaluable to my membership. It has been an amazing opportunity each time I have been able to attend, from networking with new people, to demonstrations of new products and offerings from vendors, and learning what my peers are creating by attending workshops.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY ASSOCIATED WITH AALL?
Hands down, accepting the award for Spectrum’s Article of the Year at the 2015 AALL in Philadelphia with my co-author Kristen Hallows for our article “Dialectic of Transformation: The Shaping of a Name.” Written when all of the discussions of name changes for librarians were the hot topic, we received a lot of feedback from fellow AALL members, which was gratifying in itself, and then months after publication, we received an email confirming the award. We were recognized by AALL at the annual meeting, at an author breakfast and a reception where the awards were given. It was an outstanding moment for me.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING OUTSIDE OF WORK?
Last year I had the opportunity to make an amazing life change – to relocate from Upstate New York to the greater Manhattan area. I’m taking advantage of my time in the city to explore museums, Broadway shows, and eat all the food I can find. Outside of the city I enjoy reading, daytrips, and farmer’s markets.
WHAT BOOK(S) ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?
I’m re-reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova in print. My print commuter book is currently Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. My digital book is Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TRAVEL/VACATION DESTINATION?
A lot of my travel is spent visiting family and friends, who are all across the US. When I travel for me, I tend to have either a jam packed trip in large, messy cities or a quiet beachside trip with lots of lounging about.