Blog

Access to Justice Commission

Congratulations to Gail Warren, State Law Librarian, Virginia Supreme Court, for being named to the commission. She will serve a three-year term beginning on December 1, 2013. Other members of the commision: Mark D. Braley, executive director, Legal Services Corporation of Virginia Andrea L. Bridgeman, associate general counsel, Freddie Mac Deborah V. Bryan, Chief Judge, […]

Chasing Court History

by Gail Warren Providing relevant, current collections and reference services for members of the judicial branch, particularly the two appellate courts in Virginia is, and will always be one of our library’s primary goals. However, staff experience and responsibilities have expanded in the last two years as we have embraced our “newer” role as the […]

VALL Fall Meeting at W&L Law School Library

The thirty people who met at the Washington & Lee Law School Library in Lexington on Oct. 25, 2013, for the Fall VALL meeting, got an extra treat — cake to celebrate VALL’s 30th birthday!   Marie Antoinette would have been happy.     Many thanks to the W&L Law School Library for hosting the meeting. Attendees […]

VALL at VLA in September

submitted by Terry Long On September 26th VALL members Leslie Ashbrook and Ben Doherty of UVA Law Library presented a program at the annual meeting of the Virginia Library Association. Their program, Legal Reference for Librarians: You’ve Got Questions; We’ve Got Answers was an interactive session in which Ben & Leslie debuted two the eleven […]

Up for Adventure: Putting Your Library Skills to Work

by Jean Holcomb Leaving the library upon retirement doesn’t necessarily mean that the skills you spent years acquiring will gather dust. Leaving the workforce might not be a permanent option for a variety of reasons: financial, social, entrepreneurial, or altruistic. Regardless of the motivations calling you to put your skills back in play in the […]

VALL Grant to AALL Leadership Academy

The 2014 AALL Leadership Academy is going to be held in Oak Brook, Illinois, from April 4 – 5. See here for details: http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Education/leadership-academy If any VALL member is interested, the VALL Board would like to assist any member who is accepted into the academy with a grant of $800 to help defray the costs. […]

In Memoriam: Beverley Butler

submitted by Frosty Owen Beverley Butler, Hunton & Williams’ firm librarian from 1958 to 1992, passed away on Tuesday, September 17, after a long illness. A memorial service for Beverley was held on Thursday, October 3, 10:00 a.m., at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Oregon Hill. Beverley was one of a kind. Even though he […]

Law Librarianship in Today’s Economy: the New Normal

by Michele Gernhardt, Frosty Owen & Lisa Reinhard Anyone reading the news about law libraries today or any other day since the economic downturn in 2008 comes across the same phrases again and again. “The new normal,” “doing more with less,” “cost-cutting measures,” “belt-tightening,” “shrinking budgets,” “shrinking headcounts,” “shrinking footprints,” etc., are constants in the […]

VLA Board Meeting Sept. 6, 2013

By Terry Long, VALL Liaison to VLA Highlights of the VLA Council Meeting: • VLA’s financial picture looks good. Membership did not decrease in the last fiscal year – it increased by 1. • VLA Conference o Exhibit hall is sold out, with 5 vendors wait-listed. o 373 registrants thus far o $10,000+ raised in […]