Category: Membership

LLNE at AALL 2015: Exhibitors, Presenters, Award Winners, and Leaders

By Raquel Ortiz, Membership Development Committee Chair

Heading to Philly later this month? LLNE will be well represented, so here are some tips on who and what not to miss during the conference.

Starting at Saturday’s Exhibit Hall Ribbon Cutting Ceremony/Opening Reception and throughout the conference, drop by the LLNE table. We will have highlights from 2014-2015, information about the LLNE Legal Link, giveaways, and a prize raffle perfect for Philly! While you’re at the table, sign up as a volunteer to help us plan LLNE’s 70th Anniversary next year. Pat will also be there at times during the conference, when he’s not visiting old friends in the Exhibit Hall or checking out Philly.

Also during the Opening Reception, stop by the AALL booth and congratulate our AALL award-winning members, who will be photographed from 5:30-6:30 that evening.

On Sunday night from 6 to 8pm, please join members of the LLNE Executive Board for our Meet and Greet at Vintage Wine Bar, a short walk from the convention center and the conference hotels. Business optional, casual conversation and fun are a given!

If you have not already done so, please register for the LLNE Annual Business Meeting and Luncheon on Tuesday. While you enjoy a lovely meal, catch up with friends and meet new LLNE colleagues, participate in our business meeting, and vote on our candidates for LLNE office.

Throughout the conference, our members will be busy receiving AALL awards, section awards, presenting programs and poster sessions, and wrapping up or stepping into leadership roles. Congratulations to the following members, who put the Leadership in LLNE!

  • Section Award winners: Blair Kauffman (ALL-SIS), Meg Kribble (CS-SIS)
  • Poster Sessions: Timothy Dannay, Nicole Dyszlewski, Corinne Griffiths, Rebecca Martin, Jessica Panella, Jennifer Robble
  • Programs: Nicole Dyszlewski, Scott Matheson, Sarah Ryan, Michael VanderHeijden, Ron Wheeler
  • Special Interest Sections: Jennifer Allison, Patrick Butler, Melanie Cornell, Steven Alexandre DaCosta-Ellis, Laurel Davis, Nicole Dyszlewski, Stephanie Edwards, Christine Iaconeta, Jordan Jefferson, Susan Karpuk, Catherine Kellett, Jocelyn Kennedy, Liza Rosenof, Sarah Ryan
  • AALL Committees: Patrick Butler, June Casey, Nicole Dyszlewski, Darcy Kirk, Meg Kribble, Jootaek Lee, Anne McDonald, John Nann, Anupama Pal, Ron Wheeler
  • AALL Board: Katherine Coolidge, Ron Wheeler

Did we miss you on our list of LLNE stars? Please email rortiz@rwu.edu so that you can be counted!

 

 

Another Great Year to be an LLNE Member

By the Membership Committee

LLNE is having a wonderful year, which wraps up on June 30.   So far this year our members coordinated two terrific meetings, ran another successful Legal Research Instruction Program,  wrote for our blog on technology, teaching, and turning theory into practice, and within committees contributed blog posts on Archives & History, Government Relations, and Service.   Members have been awarded scholarships to attend the fall and spring LLNE meetings, have been honored by a number of AALL Awards, will be serving in AALL leadership positions, or are preparing to coordinate/present at the AALL meeting.

The Membership Committee has written about LLNE Life Membership, which the membership awarded to six retired members at the spring 2015 meeting, and the wonderful privileges that come with LLNE membership.  In December, we sent our first holiday card to the membership.  At the spring meeting, we had our first LLNE table and ran our first Twitter campaign #LLNEMeans where members told our followers what LLNE means to them.

At the fast approaching AALL meeting, we will hold our first Meet & Greet with LLNE Executive Board Members.  Look for an invitation in your email in June.  Look out also for the return of Pat the Pilgrim and more of his Twitter shenanigans.  We will have a wonderful table in the Exhibit Hall, highlighting LLNE’s year, so look for us during one of the Exhibit Hall breaks or whenever you have some time at the Exhibit Hall.

As the year ends, we take this opportunity to remind you that renewal notices will be sent via email to each individual member very soon.  If any colleagues from your institution have moved outside the area or have retired, please contact Raquel Ortiz, Membership Development Chair.  If you know of any law librarians in your area who are not members, please let them know about the wonderful benefits of membership and point them to our online membership form.   When you renew your membership, take a look at our volunteer opportunities.  Even if you can’t join a committee, be sure to share your wonderful ideas with the chair(s).

Finally, the LLNE Membership Development Committee wants to hear from you.  What kinds of activities, in person, virtual, or other, would you like us to take on for the benefit of LLNE members?  How can we encourage communication, collaboration, networking, and fun within LLNE?  Contact any committee member with your thoughts.

Your $10 LLNE Membership Has Its Privileges

By the LLNE Membership Development Committee

LLNE is one of the most affordable professional membership for law librarians (or any librarians!). When we are faced with the constant challenge of “doing more with less”and the rising cost of legal publications, it is nice to know that some bills have not gone up. When we are reassessing our memberships and trying to figure out which ones we must have and which ones we cannot afford anymore, let’s remember how the $10 cost of LLNE benefits our members:

  1. Community: Sometimes we just have #lawlibraryproblemz and it’s good to know that there are other people out there who can understand them.
  2. Educational Opportunities: While LLNE membership is not required for attendance at the Spring and Fall meetings, it is the LLNE organization and its members who work to plan and host these meetings to further professional development in our field.
  3. Service: The LLNE Service Committee is busy throughout the year uniting members from throughout New England in service. Volunteers always welcome!
  4. Listserv: The members-only LLNE listserv is a great way to find out about upcoming employment opportunities, educational opportunities and other law library happenings.
  5. Advocacy: The LLNE Government Relations Committee, in partnership with the AALL Government Relations Committee, works to further the profession and the ideals of law librarianship.
  6. Scholarships: Scholarships are available for a variety of professional development opportunities and for tuition for students. However, scholarship opportunities are only available to members.
  7. Networking: You never know when you will discover your next career move. Many directors and hiring managers in New England law libraries are members of LLNE!

Whether you are a library school student interested in law librarianship who is just joining LLNE for the first time or a former LLNE Executive Board member who has been a member for decades, sometimes it it just good to appreciate the value of LLNE membership. Membership: it definitely has its privileges.

Life Membership Honors LLNE’s Stars

By Raquel M. Ortiz
LLNE Membership Development Committee chair

What does it take to become an LLNE life member?  The LLNE Bylaws tell us generally what life member status requires:  a person retired from full time law library employment and who has served as an active member of LLNE for at least 10 years.

Recently, the LLNE Executive Board discussed in detail what we thought active membership means. That discussion and research into other AALL chapters, has led us to solidify three major categories of “Active” LLNE members that seem apropos for this honor.

First, former members of the Executive Committee, who all serve for two or more years, are automatically eligible for life membership.  Serving as the President, Secretary, Treasurer or Education Director carries significant responsibilities within LLNE and ensures that the organization runs smoothly and our financial, educational, and reporting obligations are met.  Those who volunteer their time in those roles are generally members who have volunteered their time to LLNE in other ways so as to make an impression upon the Nominating Committee that requests their service.

A second category of active members are those members who served 5 or more years as committee chair, assistant clerk, resident agent, or committee member.  These roles are equally important to the vibrancy of LLNE as a chapter.  While the Executive Committee carries the heavy load of running LLNE, most of LLNE’s initiatives begin and are maintained at the committee level.  LLNE’s committees are responsible for our award-winning Legal Research Instruction Program and blog, our fantastic scholarships, coordinating LLNE meetings, our newsletter and social media, advocacy at the local and national level, and our extensive service to the community.  The tireless efforts of these volunteers move LLNE forward and bring it to the national spotlight.

Finally, we recognize those members who have made extraordinary contributions to LLNE, AALL, or the profession of law librarianship.  This category recognizes cumulative contributions rather than extended service in an LLNE leadership role.  Contributions are in areas of interest to LLNE: advocacy, leadership, mentoring, promoting public access to government information, publications, service, scholarship, teaching, or any combination of these contributions.

Of course, these categories of active membership simply bring up a member for consideration for Life Membership. You, our members, are ultimately the ones who bestow this honor to your colleagues when you vote at our business meetings.  Our members make LLNE a chapter that is all about “communication, collaboration, networking and fun”.  Those of us on the Executive Board serve because you inspire us to give more to this organization and as members of our wonderful profession.