Category: Service

Service Project Wrap-Up: South Coast Fair Housing

The Service Committee would like to thank everyone who attended LLNE Trivia Night 2021.  The event was hosted by trivia master Thomas Todd (also known as Ttodd) and 34 librarians, friends, and family participated.  It was a great night of pop culture and general knowledge trivia, culminating in a tie breaker show down between Cardoza and UConn.  The winning team was Cardz Against Humanity, the team from Cardoza Law Library.  Congratulations to Christine George, Richard Kim, Ingrid Mattson, Anu Pal, and Olivia Smith!!  The winners will receive e-gift cards to Frugal Bookstore, a fantastic black-owned bookstore located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston.

The event was to raise money for SouthCoast Fair Housing in New Bedford, MA.  SouthCoast Fair Housing is “dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination, ensuring equal housing opportunities, and developing inclusive communities throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.”  They do this through education, community outreach, advocacy, investigation, and legal representation. 

If you haven’t donated, there is still time.  Just go to https://bit.ly/3Ep9VGO and donate any amount today. 

Also, a big thanks to Lexis for sponsoring trivia night. 

If you are interested in joining the Service Committee or have an idea for our next project, please reach out to co-chairs Jessica Almeida and Kaitlin Connolly.

LLNE Trivia Night 2021!

Join us on Wednesday, November 17th at 7PM (EST) for LLNE Trivia Night 2021!  The event will once again be hosted by Ttodd and prizes provided by Lexis.  We will be raising money for SouthCoast Fair Housing,  a nonprofit fair housing organization dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination, ensuring equal housing opportunities, and developing inclusive communities throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.  Remember to register for the event and donate any amount!  Once registered, the Zoom link will be sent to you prior to the event.  This event is open to all, so feel free to invite family, friends, and colleagues.  

Can’t make it to trivia?  You can still donate to this great cause!

Questions?  Contact Jessica at jessica.almeida@umassd.edu.

The LLNE Service Committee

Service Committee Spring 2021 Project Wrap-Up

This Spring, the committee organized three projects to coincide with the LLNE FUNtivities and Spring Virtual Meeting. 

NEADS Prison Pups posing for a picture.

Our first project was raising money for NEADS Prison Pup Program.  NEADS is an organization that provides service dogs to veterans, people with physical disabilities, individuals with autism, and even assistance dogs that work in hospitals and courthouses.  90-95% of NEADS puppies are trained in correctional institutions in New England through their Prison Pup Program.  Through the generosity of our members, we have raised over $1,300.  If you would like to give to this wonderful organization, please visit  https://support.neads.org/llne.

Child posing with a card made for Meals on Wheels.

Our second project was creating cards and decorated lunch bags for Meals on Wheels locations throughout New England.  The committee is happy to report that members have pledged to create over 300 cards and bags.  Please remember to take a photo of your creations and use the #LLNEFuntivities on Twitter.  The sign-up form is now closed, but if you are interested in contributing to this project, please email Jessica at jessica.almeida@umassd.edu. 

Coded Bias Activist Toolkit poster.

Our last project highlighted an informational resource to compliment the Coded Bias screening and panel on Friday, June 11th.  The committee showcased the filmmaker’s activist toolkit, containing ways to get involved in the algorithmic justice movement.  The committee is encouraging members to sign the Universal Declaration of Data Rights as Human Rights, which was developed by the Coded Bias team, if you are interested in further supporting this cause. Upon signature, your name and zip code are sent to US elected officials.  For more information, go to https://llne.org/interested-in-algorithmic-justice-here-are-ways-llne-members-can-help/.

If you are interested in joining the Service Committee or have an idea for a project, please contact Jessica Almeida at jessica.almeida@umassd.edu.

Interested in algorithmic justice? Here are ways LLNE members can help!

Don’t forget to register for the June 11th (this Friday!) screening and discussion of the acclaimed documentary Coded Bias. The event starts at 7pm EST: tinyurl.com/xr5dm9wf. The filmmaker, Shalini Kantayya, has also compiled an activist toolkit for those interested in becoming advocates for “algorithmic justice.” If any LLNE members would like to get involved, page 24 of the toolkit lists recommended organizations to which you can subscribe and make donations.

Another way to get involved is by signing the Universal Declaration of Data Rights as Human Rights, which was developed by the Coded Bias team. Upon signature, your name and zip code are sent to US elected officials. The committee is encouraging members to sign the declaration if they are interested in further supporting this cause.

We hope to see you on Friday!

LLNE Service Committee

Service Committee Project: The Prison PUP Program

In conjunction with the Law Librarians of New England (LLNE) FUNtivities , the Service Committee is raising funds for NEADS, an organization that provides service dogs to veterans, people with physical disabilities, individuals with autism, and even assistance dogs that work in hospitals and courthouses. 

The money we raise will go to the Prison PUP Program.  According to NEADS “90-95% of NEADS puppies are trained in 7 correctional facilities throughout New England. Our statistics show that, under the guidance of NEADS staff, inmates are able to provide consistent training at a high level simply because of the amount of time they are able to devote to the dogs. This enables us to place dogs faster with people in need.”  

For more information, please visit https://neads.org/training-placement/prison-pup-program/.

For a first person post about the program, please visit https://neads.org/prison-pup-program-a-win-win/.

Due to the generosity of our members, we have increased our goal!  To donate, go to https://support.neads.org/llne.  

The Service Committee

LLNE Fall Service Project Wrap-Up: The RE∙Center of Hartford, Connecticut

This fall, the LLNE and SNELLA Service Committees joined forces to raise money for the RE∙Center of Hartford, Connecticut.  The RE∙Center is an organization that works to promote racial equality in education.  The RE∙Center offers anti-racism programming to students, educators, and the community.  For more information on the RE∙Center, visit https://re-center.org/.

As part of our project, LLNE hosted a trivia night to raise funds for the RE∙Center on October 28, 2020.  LLNE members, law librarian colleagues, family, and friends from across the country joined us in a fun trivia tournament hosted by TTodd of Jeporardy and Washington Post fame.  Congratulations to the team from Yale for coming in 1st place! The winning team members received amazing prizes courtesy of the event’s sponsor, Lexis. 

Missed the trivia event and still want to give to this great cause?  There is still time to give!  Just visit https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E331556&id=1, select “I would like to dedicate this donation”, and type in LLNE Service Project.  

Finally, the Service Committee is happy to report that this initiative has raised $1,322.78 for the  RE∙Center!  Thank you to all of our members who donated and were part of our first ever virtual trivia event.  If you have an idea for a future service project or would like to join the Service Committee, please email Jessica at jessica.almeida@umassd.edu.  

LLNE Service Committee Report (October 2020)

With the SNELLA Service Committee, we undertook two projects in conjunction with the Fall Meeting.  First, is a transcription project hosted on the Library of Congress website.  Members are encouraged to go to any of the following sites and transcribe historical documents to make them more accessible to the public.

The committees are also asking members to donate to the RE∙Center, an organization that works to promote racial equality in education.  For more information on the RE∙Center, visit https://re-center.org/.  To make a donation, go to https://bit.ly/LLNE_RECenter, select “I would like to dedicate this donation”, and type in LLNE Service Project.  As part of our donation drive, LLNE will be hosting a Trivia Night on October 28th at 7:30 pm EST via Zoom.  The event will be hosted by TTodd and prizes will be sponsored by Lexis.  Registration information will be sent out soon.

LLNE Fall Service Project

The LLNE and SNELLA Service Committees are happy to announce two ways for you to give back in conjunction with the Virtual Fall 2020 Meeting on Dismantling Bias. 

First, you can donate to the RE∙Center, an organization that works to promote racial equality in education.  The RE∙Center offers anti-racism programming to students, educators, and the community.  For more information on the RE∙Center, visit https://re-center.org/.  To make a donation, go to https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E331556&id=1 select “I would like to dedicate this donation”, and type in LLNE Service Project.   

Hold onto your receipt!  Soon, we will be announcing a great virtual event to raise funds for Re-Center and we want you to be part of it.  More information to come… 

The committees are also promoting a number of transcription projects through the Library of Congress.  The transcription process is easy and just a few pages can make a huge difference in discovery and education.  Check out the following transcription projects: 

Click on a link, choose a page, and start typing away.  Before you know you will be submitting pages that will be more accessible to everyone.  What are you waiting for!  Get transcribing.   

If you have any questions, please contact the LLNE Service Committee chair at jessica.almeida@umassd.edu. 

LLNE 2020 Spring Meeting Service Project

With everyone currently cooped up at home, the Service Committee thought it would be a great opportunity for members of LLNE to once again donate their time to help transcribe historically significant documents.  The Boston Public Library is asking for the public’s assistance with transcribing its digitized collection of 19th century handwritten correspondence between anti-slavery activists; doing so will improve the collection’s visibility, accessibility, and searchability for users.

Simply visit https://www.antislaverymanuscripts.org and click “Start Transcribing.”  You will then be prompted to create an account before starting.  The BPL has put together a great tutorial and field guide to help new volunteers, and you can transcribe as little or as much as you’d like—whenever you’d like!  Please note that the project is currently not supported on mobile devices.

If you have any questions or comments about this project, please feel free to contact Kaitlin Connolly at Kaitlin.Connolly@mass.gov.

Learned Hands: LLNE Fall Service Project

In honor of the LLNE Fall Meeting titled “Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms in Law Libraries and in Legal Practice”, the Service Committee is promoting the use of the online legal game, Learned Hands.  Developed by the Stanford Legal Design Lab and Suffolk’s Legal Innovation and Technology Lab, Learned Hands is a crowdsourcing game that helps develop access to justice technology.  The game asks players to spot possible legal issues in real people’s stories.  When you spot a legal issue, you are teaching the technology how to spot the issue as well.  The technology will then be used to help link legal resources to the people who are searching for help. Anyone can play!  To participate, go to https://learnedhands.law.stanford.edu/.  Creating an account only takes a minute.  Once you have an account, start reading stories and answer questions about any legal issues you find.  You accrue points for every question you answer.  Our goal is to reach 50,000 points by the end of November!  To help us reach that goal, please email me (jessica.almeida@umassd.edu) your username so we can add your points to LLNE’s overall total.