Greetings, VALL Members,
It’s hard to believe that six weeks have passed since our spring meeting. Around here, those six weeks have flown by with exams, commencement, and now summer construction projects; meanwhile, many of you find yourselves with new summer associates and clerks. Regardless of your clientele, I hope that you are working on interesting summer projects (along with some fun vacation plans).
Our spring meeting in April was a great success with over fifty attendees. Members learned about exciting innovations at the Law Library of Congress from David Mao, Andrew Weber, and Tina Gheen; and the University of Virginia’s digital team of Loren Moulds and Elizabeth Ladner shared details of their digitization project of the Tavenner Tokyo War Crimes Trial Papers and unveiled their new website. Jean Wenger, AALL Vice President, spoke of AALL activities and developments, including changes for future AALL annual meetings and programs. Committee members also met to transition and discuss goals for the coming year.
We welcomed new members of the Executive Board: Amy Wharton as Vice President/President-Elect, Ben Keele as Secretary, and Heather Casey as Board Member. Many thanks to Anthony Brown Ikwueme and David Knight for their years of service on the board and to Michele Gernhardt for her tenure as President.
I recently heard a colleague speak of 212: The Extra Degree. At 211 degrees, water is hot; at 212 degrees, water boils and produces steam. That single extra degree makes a substantial difference. As we enter a new year for VALL, I will strive to light a fire so that each of you can give the extra degree. Work with your committees to strengthen our membership and outreach; talk with your colleagues about what VALL can contribute to the greater profession; and participate in VALL activities – and partner with VLA and SLA when possible. Michele made great strides on VALL’s leadership and growth during her tenure. Let’s build on her hard work to make VALL even stronger.
Membership Renewals:
Christina Vassey, our Membership Committee Chair, will be sending out membership renewals soon. We hope to have a new process for current members to renew without having to redo the entire membership form, which should streamline the renewal process. If you know of other librarians or students who might benefit from VALL membership, please let us know! It would be wonderful to have members from the next generation of law librarians.
VALL at AALL:
If you are attending AALL in Boston, please attend the VALL lunch on Monday, July 23 from noon to 1:15 at Vlora Boston Back Bay Restaurant at 545 Boylston St., a 9 minute walk from the Convention Center. The registration fee is $15 for VALL members, $20 for non-members.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, July 18. For a registration form, please visit the VALL Wiki at http://vall.pbworks.com/ or contact Amy Wharton at amywharton@virginia.edu.
If you haven’t yet registered for AALL, do so by June 15 to save $100 on the registration fee!
Grants:
Evelyn Campbell (South University) and Marie Hamm (Regent University) were awarded grants to attend AALL in Boston. Congratulations!
Leadership Handbook:
Edits are rapidly progressing on the leadership handbook and a new edition should be available shortly.
Suzanne
