Lacy on the power of her AALL network, the importance of CRIV, and moonlighting as a bird rescuer.
Lacy Rakestraw is the Director at the St. Louis County Law Library in Clayton, Missouri.
WHY DID YOU JOIN AALL?
I joined because I wanted to expand my professional and intellectual horizons beyond my geographic area. I once had a friend who is an attorney in Illinois travel to NYC for work. He needed a book the next day for a deposition, and of course he called me for help. I reached out to a NYC librarian and had the book put on hold for my friend. I even texted him a map to the library. All he had to do was walk in the door. Such is the power of a vast librarian network!
WHY DO YOU STAY A MEMBER?
I feel like every year I attend a conference, I learn a new takeaway. This year it was about a new vendor product; last year it was about how job postings at the career center worked. There is always new information to learn in our profession, and a membership in AALL is the key to that knowledge gateway.
WHAT ONE MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT IS MOST VALUABLE TO YOU?
I’m personally a big fan of the CRIV Sheet. I don’t have the time to reach out to all my vendors to shake them down on larger issues, so it’s nice to see when others are having similar concerns that AALL and its members are willing to contact those vendors to address them.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY ASSOCIATED WITH AALL?
This last conference in Baltimore, I saved a bird! I was walking with my partner Eric Brust through the glass doors of the conference center, and a bird flew in beside me, smashed into a wall, and splash landed into a fountain. There was a security guard that saw the whole thing and we looked at each other with shocked faces. Thing is, I don’t even like birds, but there was no way I wanted that bad karma on me. So I ran to the fountain, took my shoes off, and prepared to wade in to save this bird, as the walls of the fountain were too high for it to climb out. As soon as I touched the water, the bird stared swimming towards me. I cupped both hands into the water and gave it words of encouragement, and in a scene usually reserved only for Disney princesses, the bird swam to me and crawled into my hands! I scooped the thoroughly soaked bird out of the water and walked it back outside, sitting it in a ray of sunshine to dry off. Then I went off to my meeting of the Law Library Journal editorial board and told them the heroic tale of why I was late.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING OUTSIDE OF WORK?
I LOVE to bake! Cookies, cupcakes, pies, you name it! All I need is a reason. Got a party coming up and you need themed sugar cookies? I’m your gal!
WHAT BOOK(S) ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?
I write book reviews for an area lawyer magazine, so I’m always reading a new book. My most recent was Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. It does a great job of explaining the seemingly contradictory notion of gravitational pull within the expanding universe theory.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TRAVEL/VACATION DESTINATION?
Despite my very pale skin, I absolutely love lying on a beach in a hammock. There’s something about the sound of the ocean waves combined with the rocking motion that instantly puts me in a zen mood. Of course, I’m SPF 75 all the way!