by Dianne George and Kristine Lloyd

Our May LLOPS meeting featured Rita Dermody, King County Law Library Interim Director, and Judge Mary Yu, President of the KCLL Board of Trustees, holding court at Davis Wright Tremaine on the future of KCLL.

Judge Yu’s remarks focused on the development of a Strategic Plan, a major effort to re-define and re-brand the library. The library remains passionate in its mission to support the pro se community, and KCLL aims to fashion itself as a hub of activity where patrons can find help using a myriad of resources. In order to succeed in this mission, the support of the law firm community is critical, and the library is reaching out to find ways to support us as well.

Rita Dermody shared the results of the King County Law Library Visioning and Long-Range Planning Session held April 8th, 2010 that formed the foundation of KCLL’s developing Strategic Plan. She also informed participants that a significant amount of KCLL’s income derives from subscriber fees. Rita reminded us of some of the subscriber services that KCLL offers, such as training courses and document delivery discounts.

Following Rita’s recap of KCLL’s current services, the group discussion, moderated by Barbara Holt, began. The discussion was divided into three main topics:

Costs to Subscribers:

This is of great concern amongst law firms, as we are changed $65 per attorney when only a few attorneys within our firms actually take advantage of these borrowing privileges. Amy Eaton suggested that KCLL set up a 501(c)(3) to accept donations, though, of course, certain complications with this workout were suggested by other LLOPS members. Members also suggested a sliding scale fee based on firm size, or a split fee for services rendered per year.

Materials We Depend On:

Getting a bang for our buck is also a key concern for law firm subscribers. We want items that we do not have the space for, or are not able to obtain ourselves. Items such as Washington Supreme Court Briefs, and state statutes and regulations from jurisdictions outside of Washington, along with superseded and archival materials. It is up to us to communicate with Rita the materials that we urge KCLL to keep.

Other Services:

To finish off the discussion, members suggested additional services that could add value to our KCLL subscription. These included publishing judicial bios, online document delivery, and adding classes that could be brought into firms.

All in all, it was a lively conversation and a great opportunity for dialog between two interdependent constituencies in our law library community.