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Academic Law Librarians in the United States of America: Lawyers or Librarians?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2019

Arno Liivak
Arno Liivak*
Affiliation:
Rutgers – The State University of New Yersey, Camden, New Yersey, U. S. A
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Extract

“Everthing's up-to-date in Kansas City

They've gone about as far as they can go!”

American standards for law librarianship have been frequently cited and widely used as guidelines in law library literature. It is understandable how one not fully conversant with the problems inherent in American law librarianship might well regard the present standards with the kind of awe expressed in the above quotation. After all, academic law librarians in the United States have a doubledegree standard of education, possess full faculty rank and status as members of law school faculties, and require certification in accordance with their own professional association standards. Committees of the American Association of Law Libraries are engaged in writing canons of professional ethics for law librarians while another is producing a code of job security. A committee of concerned librarians is dealing with questions of social importance and probing the possible response of law libraries to those issues. The law library literature itself is filled with articles presenting various philosophies of law librarianship. Surveys are taken on topics of constant interest ranging from salary scales and book counts to the very latest topical problems such as sex discrimination. Members even voice concern about the possibilities of unauthorized practice of law in their daily work and raise questions concerning the need for malpractice insurance coverage for reference librarians. Thus, at first glance, it does seem entirely possible to conclude that “everything is up-to-date” in American law librarianship.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Law Libraries , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , July 1975 , pp. 162 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © International Association of Law Libraries 1975 

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References

1 “Kansas City”, from Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma, 1943.Google Scholar

2 Australian Universities Law School Association Report of the Committee on Australian Legal Education. Law Libraries in Australian Universities. Butterworths, 1974; see, e. g., Tanguay, Guy “The Case for the Special Status of the University Law Library”, 66 Law Library Journal 12–33 (1973); see c. f. “Statement of Minimum Holdings for Law Libraries in England and Wales”, 11 Journal of the Society of the Society of Public Teachers of Law 93–103 (1970).Google Scholar

3 Association of American Law Schools Association Information, “II Executive Committee Regulation”. January 1975. Section 8.3 provides as follows:Google Scholar

  1. a.

    a. “The librarian should have both legal and library education and he should have met the certification requirements of the American Association of Law Libraries.”

4 Bailey, James F. and Dee, Methew F., “Law School Libraries: Relating to Autonomy and Faculty Status”, 67 Law Library Journal 3, 19 (1974). Response to this survey indicated 86 percent of head law librarians had faculty status.Google Scholar

5 American Association of Law Libraries. Directory of Law Libraries. “Certification of Law Librarians”. (June 1974). Section C provides: “Certification may be issued by the association to applicants who qualify any of the following categories:Google Scholar

  1. 1.

    1. A graduate degree (either Bachelor's or Master's) in library science from a school approved by the American Library Association and a degree in law from a law school approved by the American Bar Association or members of the Association of American Law Schools, and two years of professional library experience.

  2. 2.

    2. A degree in law from a law school approved by the American Bar Association or members of the Association of American Law Schools and four years of professional library experience.

  3. 3.

    3. A graduate degree (either Bachelor's or Master's) in library science from a school approved by the American Library Association and six years of professional library experience.

  4. 4.

    4. Long-term responsible professional law library experience and outstanding contribution to the profession (no degree requirement).

    Section A.2 provides: “Certification is voluntary and not necessary either for membership or participation in the activities of the association.”

    Only 25 percent of 1750 members are certified. See, Brock, Christine. “Law Libraries and Librarians: A Revisionist History; or more than you ever wanted to know”, 67 Law Library Journal 325, 354 (1974).

6 American Association of Law Libraries, “Report of the Committee on Ethics”, 67 Law Library Journal 436 (1974).Google Scholar

7 American Association of Law Libraries, “Second Business Session–June 25, 1974”, 67 Law Library Journal 459 (1974); “Report of the Committee on Job Security, Remuneration and Employment Practices”, 67 Law Library Journal 438 (1974).Google Scholar

8 See, e.g., Lewis, Alfred J., “1973 Statistical Survey of Law School Libraries and Librarians”, 67 Law Library Journal 283 (1974).Google Scholar

9 Hughes, Marija, “Sex-Based Discrimination in Law Libraries”, 64 Law Library Journal 13 (1971).Google Scholar

10 “An Ethical Code for Law Librarianship”, 62 Law Library Journal 409, 414 (1969) (Remarks by Ervin Pollack).Google Scholar

11 Id. at 417 (Remarks by John Lynch).Google Scholar

12 Brock, Supra note 5, at 347.Google Scholar

13 Credit for coining this descriptive phrase goes to Igor I. Kavass “Libraries of the United States: Development and Growth”, 3 International Journal of Law Libraries, 25 (1975).Google Scholar

14 Brock, Supra note 5, at 325.Google Scholar

15 Bailey, Supra note 4, at 16.Google Scholar

16 Id.Google Scholar

17 See, e. g., Bitner, Harry “The Educational Background of the University's Law Librarian”, 40 Law Library Journal 49, 52–53 (1947).Google Scholar

18 See Bailey, Supra note 4, at 16; see, e.g. “The Education of a Law Librarian–A Panel”, 50 Law Library Journal 359, 366 (1957) Sample argument: “Would a law school dean consider a teacher of law for his faculty without a law degree save in an exceptional case? Why should he be more lenient with a law librarian who, too, will be a member of his faculty?”Google Scholar

19 See, e. g. Brock, Supra note 5, at 352.Google Scholar

20 See, e. g. Brock, Supra note 5, at 351.Google Scholar

21 Brock, Supra note 5, at 325.Google Scholar

22 Association of American Law Schools Supra note 3.Google Scholar

23 Bailey, Supra note 4, at 17.Google Scholar

24 Cohen, Morris, “The President's Page 64” Law Library Journal 111 (1971).Google Scholar

25 Bailey, Supra note 4, at 17.Google Scholar

26 Cohen, Morris, “Educating Law Librarians: A Symposium-Background to Law-Library Education”, 55 Law Library Journal 190, 191 (1962).Google Scholar

27 Brock, Supra note 5, at 354.Google Scholar

28 Association of American Law Schools. Association Information. “Bylaws of the Association of American Law Schools, Inc.”, (1975) Article 6–1 (9–b) states that the “library is the nerve center of legal studies”; See e.g., Jacobstein, Myron, “The Role of the Law Schools in the Education of Law Librarians” 55 Law Library Journal 209, 211 (1962).Google Scholar

29 Sadow, Sandra and Benjamin R. Beede, Library Instruction in American Law Schools”, 68 Law Library Journal 27 (1975).Google Scholar