Good morning!
As the new LLNE president I wanted to take a moment and welcome everyone to this new membership year. In many ways, this year seems dishearteningly similar to last year, with all the uncertainty, anxiety, and apprehension about how the pandemic might affect our personal and professional lives. Our immediate past president, Nicole Dyszlewski, along with LLNE volunteers on and off the Executive Board, dedicated enormous quantities of time and energy to provide opportunities for us to continue to learn, engage with each other, and enjoy each other’s company — even without the luxury of face-to-face gatherings. Special thanks to all of you as well as to the following outgoing members of the Executive Board:
- Bob de Fabrizio, outgoing past president, Manager of Law Libraries, MA Trial Courts
- Ellen Frenzen, outgoing co-chair of the Communications Committee, Assistant Dean for Administration at Boston University Law School
- Anne McDonald, outgoing co-chair of the Government Relations Committee, Law Library Coordinator, Rhode Island Dept. of the Attorney General
- AnnaKatherine Wherren: outgoing chair of Scholarships Committee, Legal Research Librarian, Suffolk University Law School
I’d also like to welcome the incoming board members:
- Catherine Biondo, co-chair of the Government Relations Committee, Research Librarian, Harvard Law Library
- Kaitlin Connolly, co-chair of the Service Committee, Reference Librarian, State Library of Massachusetts
- Josh LaPorte, vice president, president-elect, Head of Access Services, Boston University Law Library
- Anne Rajotte, chair of the Access to Justice Committee, Head of Reference Services, University of Connecticut Law Library
- Dawn Smith, chair of the Scholarships Committee, Head of Acquisitions, Yale Law School
LLNE means different things to each of us. For the 2012 version of me, membership simply meant seasonal meetings and the potential for engaging more with the LLNE community – once my infant and toddler daughters got a little older. In 2021, it means working with and learning from a group of awesome people from across New England. It’s also meant drawing cartoon llamas with other LLNE families and getting a glimpse of what executive board members’ canine companions think of them. Whatever this year brings, I hope we are able to find ways to continue to connect with each other.
Take care.
Mike