The LLOPS Grants Committee is pleased to announce that Brenna Louzin is the recipient of a $75 grant to support her attendance at the upcoming LLOPS Professional Development Workshop to be held Thursday, April 29, 2010. Congratulations, Brenna!
And a reminder to others who are considering applying for grant support for the annual AALL Annual Meeting – the application deadline of April 15 is fast approaching. The grants will cover Early Bird registration ($445) which must be paid by June 1.
Click here for the LLOPS Grant Application.
Dawn Kendrick, Chair
by Robyn Hagle

The daffodils and tulips and have been blooming for at least a few weeks now. But as a California girl, I’m always amazed how long it takes before it actually feels like Spring in Seattle. If I still lived in California, by this time I would have reorganized my closet so that warmer weather clothing was front and center, planted in the garden, mowed the lawn, gone for a hike in the mountains (without snow shoes), maybe even dipped my toes in the Pacific. After nearly 8 years in the Northwest, I still find it difficult to accept that things move on a different schedule here, such that by the time I actually need to reorganize my closet, it may already be June!
Continue reading 'President's Message'»
by Erin Hoffrance
It may not be the world’s smallest library, but picture a donkey as a bookmobile, or biblioburro as it is called. I stumbled upon this CNN article while reading Law Firm Bottom Line. The man in the story, Luis Soriano, rides his donkey around rural parts of Columbia bringing books to children. Many of the children in this region would have to travel a long way to retrieve books from school, so Soriano takes to his donkey and offers a bookmobile-like service. In addition to books, Soriano provides homework help for the kids. A man whose children benefit from this service is quoted as saying ‘You can just see that the kids are excited when they see the biblioburro coming this way. It makes them happy that he continues to come […]. For us, his program complements what the children learn in school.’
I don’t see myself delivering books by burro around Seattle, but a Segway might work!
by Erin Hoffrance

Photo by Kate Stockert
A crisp, late February afternoon was the backdrop to the LLOPS tour of the new retrofitted William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse. The Courthouse is used by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Tim Sheehy, Branch Librarian, and Sarah Griffith, CALR librarian, were kind enough to give us a tour and a little history to go along with it. In 2001 the Courthouse was re-dedicated and named after William Kenzo Nakamura. Nakamura, who died in the line of duty and received the Medal of Honor for his heroism many years after his death in World War II while his family was held in Japanese internment camps by the American government.
Continue reading 'Nakamura Courthouse Tour'»
Interested in promoting equitable, no-fee, permanent public access to authentic online legal information? Concerned about support for public law libraries? If so, consider going to the AALL Annual Meeting a day early to learn how to advocate for these two issues.
Barbara Bintliff, Reporter to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws’ Drafting Committee on Authentication and Preservation of State Electronic Legal Materials, will be the Guest Speaker. Ms. Bintliff will share her unique perspective on the importance of digital authentication and preservation.
by Fred Hanson
Feeling virtuous that you are recycling the books you discard? Meet a firm librarian who has re-defined book recycling. Kathy Kelly once agonized about tossing the many books we all must pull off the shelves. Now she transforms outdated and unwanted law books into bags that sell for $125 to $350. Read how Kathy used a simple tool, not a lot of experience, but plenty of imagination to create a new product and go much further in recycling than most of us thought possible.

Image from The Library of Congress (March 25, 1941)
by Kerry Fitz-Gerald
When people I meet first learn I’m a librarian, they often respond with “You’re so lucky, you must get to read all the time.” Depending on my mood, sometimes I’ll just quietly say “oh yes,” but other times I’ll point out that a) I work in a law library so I’m not exactly surrounded by scintillating material and b) there’s an awful lot to do in a library before I ever get to reading.
That said, a big part of our jobs as librarians is current awareness. Doing our jobs well means keeping up with new trends in both library science and the law. To that end, we all have those sources we regularly read to keep current.
Continue reading 'What Are You Reading?'»
by Keith Pitts
Like this very tasty Reese’s peanut butter cup, there’s no wrong way to get your groove on with social media. Social media is achieving a unique visibility, and with that visibility, a greater influence. We can all take cues from how firms, companies, and news conglomerates are using these channels to build their networks and disseminate their influence and information. But what is it, really? And should we jump on the blogwagon, the Tweetwagon, and the Facebookwagon?
Continue reading 'There's No Wrong Way to Eat a Message'»