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History of MAALL - 2010s

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The 37th Annual Meeting was held in Iowa City, Iowa, October 14-16, 2010. The meeting was hosted by the Law Library staff of the University of Iowa. While the meeting was the 37th annual meeting, because some meetings were held prior to the official recognition of the chapter, MAALL actually celebrated its 35th Anniversary. The American Association of Law Libraries congratulated MAALL on its 35 years of accomplishment with a letter that was presented by Darcy Kirk, AALL Vice-President, who served as the AALL visitor to the meeting. "Building and Preserving Information Bridges" was the theme of the meeting. The keynote address was provided by John Palfrey, Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School. On Thursday evening, participants visited the Hoover Presidential Library. Highlights of the programming on Thursday and Friday included a presentation on transitioning from librarian to law library administration by Randy Diamond and Kathryn Hahn and a presentation on cataloging theory and practice, which introduced Resource, Description and Access (RDA), by Richard Amelung. On Saturday, MAALL offered its first Unconference allowing participants to introduce their own thoughts and questions on the topic of building bridges in legal research education. The Unconference was led by Cindy Bassett from the University of Missouri Law Library. Also on Saturday, John Mayer, CALI Executive Director & Deb Quentel, Director of Curriculum Development & General Counsel, led a lively discussion on the topic of Ebooks as a Bridge between Social Media and Legal Education. At the MAALL business meeting, Richard Leiter assumed the presidency. In an online election, Stefanie Pearlman was elected as Vice President/President Elect, Jeri Kay Hopkins was elected Secretary, Courtney Selby continued as Treasurer, but upon becoming the library director at Hofstra Law was replaced by Ann Kitchel, and Rhonda Schwartz was elected as Member-at-Large.

MAALL's 38th Annual Meeting was a joint one with SWALL and was held in Lawrence, KS on November 3-5, 2011. The meeting was hosted by the staff at the University of Kansas, many of whose staff belong to both MAALL and SWALL. Because the date of the meeting coincided with AALL's fall board meeting, AALL did not send an official representative from the executive board. Programming was developed by a joint committee co-chaired by Stefanie Pearlman, the Vice President/President Elect, and comprised of members appointed by presidents of both MAALL and SWALL. As a result the excellent programming was diverse and reflected the broad geographic regions represented by the two organizations. The keynote speaker was Stephen Ramsay, assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His talk, "What You Don't Know You Don't Know: Librarianship and the Robot Uprising," was presented at the opening luncheon and reflected his research interests in computational text analysis and visualization. An internationally known and in-demand speaker on the general topic of digital humanities, he is acutely aware of the challenges and opportunities presented by the widespread availability of digital information and spoke about libraries' special roles as facilitators of patron access to the universe of digital materials. Dinner speaker was Marianne Wesson, professor of law and author from the University of Colorado who spoke about her extensive research on The Hillman Case, a very intriguing frontier murder case, and one important in the law of evidence that was tried several times in Lawrence, Kansas. Her talk, "A Death at Crooked Creek: The Supreme Court, The Hillmon Case, and the Law of Evidence," was fascinating and entertaining. The conference also featured a reception and visit to the Dole Institute of Politics that included a wonderful tour of Bob Dole's archives which are housed at the Institute. The conference featured many terrific programs by MAALL and SWALL members and covered everything from a six state legislative history comparison, to workshops on HTML 5 and a detailed look at the new Bluebook, 19th edition. At the MAALL business Stefanie Pearlman assumed the presidency and, in an electronic election, Theodore Potter was elected Vice President/President Elect, Ann Kitchel was elected Treasurer and Cindy Bassett was elected Member-at-Large.

The 39th Annual Meeting was held in St. Louis, Missouri and hosted by St. Louis University School of Law. Our theme was "Cross-Train at the Crossroads: Meet MAALL in St. Louis!" Our opening reception was held at the historic Old Courthouse. The keynote speaker was Tom Schlafly, a partner with Thompson Coburn, President of St. Louis Brewery, Inc., and member of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Public Library. Greg Lambert, AALL Executive Board Member, spoke about current issues at AALL as part of our official chapter visit. At the MAALL business meeting Theodore Potter assumed the presidency, Jeri Kay Hopkins became Vice President/President Elect, Rebecca Lutkenhaus was elected Secretary, and Cindy Shearrer was elected Member-at-Large. The 2013 MAALL Annual Meeting will take place in Omaha, Nebraska. MAALL has been working on many projects this year. The Executive Board formed a new committee, the Special Committee to Study Firm and State, Court, and County Law Librarian Professional Development, to help determine how we can better serve those members of MAALL. The Board also commissioned a graphic designer to update our logo; that logo is not yet complete. The Bylaws Committee has been busy updating our bylaws, which it hopes to have completed and approved by the end of 2012.

The 40th Annual Meeting was held October 17-19, 2013 at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Omaha Nebraska, and was hosted by Creighton University School of Law. The theme was “Connecting Law Libraries for 40 Years” and the programs focused on the many ways law librarians make connections, whether in the classroom, among library staff, via electronic resources, or social media. The keynote speaker at the Opening Luncheon was University of Nebraska Professor Joe Starita, whose book, I am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice, chronicles the Indian chief’s struggles and ultimate success in gaining recognition by an Omaha federal court for Native American equality and his tribe’s right to land.  The Opening Reception and dinner was held at the Durham Museum, a converted train station, with retired railroad cars and other exhibits available for after-dinner strolls. AALL Treasurer Gail Warren joined us for the meeting and presented updates from AALL and the Executive Board. At the MAALL business meeting, Jeri Kay Hopkins assumed the presidency, Cindy Bassett became Vice President/President Elect, Jenny Watson was elected Treasurer and Lynn Hartke was elected Member-at-Large. The 2014 MAALL Annual Meeting will take place in Chicago. MAALL members accomplished many things this year: the association now accepts credit card payments for membership dues and other costs, an innovation brought about by MAALL Treasurer, Ann Kitchel; MAALL now has a new logo, thanks to the leadership of Past President Stefanie Pearlman and the Executive Board, with special thanks to Ann Kitchel’s daughter, Grace, who created the logo; MAALL Markings has been enhanced with more substantive articles, more photographs, and expanded state news; the Public Relations Committee started a MAALL Twitter account to promote association news and activities, and they brought us new mascots – prairie dogs “Marbury” and “Madison” – to help chronicle MAALL events, and to spice up the AALL exhibit area; the Grants Committee created a new award to honor long-time member Liz Glankler; and work has begun on an update to the MAALL Local Arrangements Manual.

The 41st MAALL Annual Meeting was held Sunday, October 5 - Tuesday October 7th, 2014 in Chicago, IL. Our keynote speaker was Steve Bogira, author of the bestseller, Courtroom 302. When asked what librarians can do to help those in the criminal justice system, he suggested we donate reading material to prisons. In response, MAALL is implementing our first service project, called Books-to-Action. We are reading a single title as a chapter (Just Mercy by attorney Bryan Stevenson) and collecting books to be donated to the Missouri Department of Corrections prison libraries. This program will take place at the MAALL Annual Meeting 2015 in Kansas City. MAALL also provided a speaker for our Business Luncheon at the AALL Annual Meeting. We invited Jean O’Grady, immediate past-Chair of the AALL SIS on Private Law Libraries to talk about the state-of-the-state of private law libraries. At the leadership training for chapter leaders at AALL Annual Meeting 2014, we learned of the need to create service opportunities for members that give them different options for how they wish to serve. To address this need, we created several task forces this year with time limited projects to work on. One task force addressed the question of how to recognize the number of long-term members who had served MAALL and were now retiring from the profession. Another tackled the question of how to serve our members continuing education needs. A third task force surveyed our new members to discern how we can better engage our new members and connect them within the chapter. A fourth task force is currently at work on a three year strategic plan for our chapter. Other chapter accomplishments included passing a chapter resolution in support of UELMA, as well as a Code of Conduct for our Annual Meeting outlining specific expectations for safe and respectful conduct at our Annual Meeting. Cindy Bassett assumed the Presidency, Jennifer Prilliman was elected Vice President/President Elect, Erika Cohn was elected Secretary, and Therese Clarke Arado was elected Member-at-Large.

MAALL held its 42nd Annual Meeting in Kansas City, KS from October 22-24, 2015. The theme was "Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City." Aaron Deacon, managing director for KC Digital Drive, was the keynote speaker. Ken Hirsch was the AALL visiting executive board member. A wide variety of programs were offered during the 2 ½ day conference. The Education committee worked very hard to find programs that would be valuable to law librarians across the field. A continuing education committee was created and charged, “to promote and publicize professional development opportunities outside of the MAALL meeting to MAALL members, and to use available technologies to bring programming to members.” MAALL committees were tasked with reviewing and updating their charges. The Government Relations Committee was retired and a task force specifically addressing UELMA was created. Five grants were awarded to MAALL members to attend the 2015 MAALL meeting. MAALL hosted a business meeting luncheon at the 2016 AALL Annual Meeting in Chicago. A CONELL grant was awarded. Michelle Falkoff, Director and Associate Professor of Law in Northwestern's Communication and Legal Reasoning Faculty, was the guest speaker. She discussed the writing process and methods for teaching legal writing. Jennifer Prilliman and Susan Boland attended the Chapter Summit during the 2016 AALL Annual Meeting. The 2015-2016 MAALL officers were: Jennifer Prilliman, President; Susan Boland Vice President/President-Elect; Cynthia Bassett, Past President; Troy Johnson, Treasurer; Erika Cohn, Secretary; Jenny Sutherland and Therese Clarke Arado, Members-at-Large.

MAALL held its 43rdAnnual Meeting in Oklahoma City, OK. The meeting was held October 13-15, 2016. The theme was Expanding Circles, highlighting how our work has been rapidly expanding beyond traditional constituents, roles, tasks, and environments. Professor Deborah Tussey, was the keynote speaker. Professor Tussey spoke on copyright and libraries. Greg Lambert was the AALL visiting executive board member. MAALL awarded two named grants to attend the 2016 MAALL Annual Meeting. At the meeting, Susan Boland assumed the Presidency, Therese Clarke Arado became Vice President/President Elect, Corie Dugas became Secretary, Troy Johnson continued as Treasurer, Jenny Sutherland continued as Member-at-Large, and Sarah Kammer assumed the other Member-at-Large position. MAALL also hosted a business meeting luncheon at the 2017 AALL Annual Meeting in Austin. In addition to a grant for the Vice-President to attend the AALL Annual Meeting in Austin, MAALL offered two grants to attend CONELL, PLL or any other pre-conference workshop for the meeting. MAALL continued the “Books- to-Action” service project. For the 2016 Annual Meeting, MAALL members read This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians can Save us All, by Marilyn Johnson. The MAALL newsletter, MAALL Markings, established columns on Management, Technical Services, and Instruction. Additionally, MAALL Markings introduced a MAALL reading club, titled “Bluebook Worms,” which allowed the MAALL community to connect more frequently. The Bluebook Worms reading club occurred quarterly, in January, April, July, and October. There were opportunities for live and asynchronous discussion on the MAALL website forums, which took place prior to and following the live discussion. The reading club alternated between fiction and non-fiction, starting with fiction.

MAALL's 44th Annual Meeting, held in Milwaukee, WI, was jointly sponsored with the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin (LLAW), the Minnesota Association of Law Libraries (MALL), the Michigan Association of Law Libraries (MichALL), and the Chicago Association of Law Libraries (CALL). The theme was Better Together, highlighting how we all succeed through co-operation and a better understanding of different library environments, constituents, and focuses. The Honorable Diane S. Sykes, was the keynote speaker. MAALL awarded two named grants to attend the 2017 MAALL Annual Meeting. The Liz Glankler Travel Grant was awarded to: Jessie Burchfield, Associate Dean for Information & Technology Services and the Library Directory at UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law. The Jo Ann Humphreys Travel Grant was awarded to: Jennifer Prilliman, the Interim Director at Oklahoma City University School of Law. The MAALL Travel Grants were awarded to Allison Reeve, Library Manager at Littler Mendelson, and Gail Wechsler, Library Directory for the Law Library Association of St Louis and part-time Reference Library at St Louis University Law Library. At the business meeting, Susan Boland became Past President, Therese Clarke Arado assumed the Presidency, Karen Wallace became Vice President/President Elect, Chris Steadham became Treasurer, Corie Dugas continued as Secretary, Sarah Kammer continued as Member-at-Large, and Jessie Burchfield assumed the other Member-at-Large position. For our Book to Action project, MAALL members read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond and donated books to Literacy Services of Wisconsin. MAALL held its 2017 summer business meeting in Austin.

MAALL's 45th Annual Meeting, themed Develop a Winning Strategy, was held in Memphis, TN. The program included a MALLCO general session, four roundtables and two paper workshops; twenty MAALL educational sessions; seven posters; tours of the University of Memphis School of Law Library; a reception at the National Civil Rights Museum; two vendor demos and ten exhibitors. Prof. Demetria Frank of the University of Memphis School of Law provided the keynote address. In addition, for the first time we also welcomed guest speakers from the organization supported by that year's Book to Action project: Project Stand, which prepares students who have been discharged from Juvenile Justice facilities to re-enroll in school. In conjunction, we read the book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. At the business meeting, Therese Clarke Arado became Past President, Karen Wallace assumed the Presidency, Lacy Rakestraw became Vice President/President Elect, Chris Steadham continued as Treasurer, Allison Reeve became Secretary, Jessie Burchfield continued as Member-at-Large, and Rena Seidler assumed the other Member-at-Large position. Travel grants were awarded to Karen Wallace (Jo Ann Humphreys), Cindy Bassett (Liz Glankler), Megan Donald, Shannon Kemen, Needra Jackson, and Pia Hunter. In addition to the annual meeting, MAALL successfully completed mostly contested elections. The summer business meeting and luncheon was held in Baltimore during the AALL annual meeting. Fourteen MAALL members presented at least one program at the meeting, and three members presented posters. MAALL received a AALL Annual Meeting Registration award, which was awarded to Sherrie Norwood. In August, the MAALL website began accepting free job postings. In late October, the MAALL discussion list transitioned from the lyris platform through AALL to Google Groups.

MAALL held its 46th Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. The “Get in the Spirit” theme referenced the locale, with the conference logo including an airplane, as well as the energy of the association and the profession. Judge Susan Block presented the keynote address and AALL Vice-President/President-Elect Emily Florio updated the association on national activities. Twenty program sessions explored topics such as artificial intelligence and other technologies, instruction, service, data analytics, and more. The fifth annual Book to Action included a discussion of the title They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery and member-donated books presented to Caring for Kids, a non-profit “dedicated to supporting children in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County who have urgent, unmet needs due to abuse, neglect, or being in an at-risk situation.” MALLCO hosted four roundtables and a paper workshop. Three vendor demos and nine exhibitors helped attendees learn about product enhancements. Washington University School of Law hosted a Thursday evening reception, with library tours, followed by dine-arounds. St. Louis University hosted Saturday morning programming and also offered library tours. Based on results of a membership survey, conference bags and nametag ribbons were eliminated in the interest of fiscal responsibility. At the same time, the meeting added a new networking opportunity, a Friday night trivia competition that proved popular. A newgeneric meeting budget spreadsheet was created to help make sure we captured all expenses and set registration fees accordingly and an MOU with MALLCO written and signed. Work began on converting the local arrangements manual into a general meeting planning manual, a project that will continue. At the business meeting, Karen Wallace became Past President, Lacy Rakestraw assumed the Presidency, Matt Braun became Vice President/President Elect, Gail Wechsler became Treasurer, Allison Reeve continued as Secretary, Rena Seidler continued as Member-at-Large, and Rebecca Lutkenhaus assumed the other Member-at-Large position. Travel grants were awarded to Autumn Collier (Liz Glankler), Marcia Hannon, Jeannine Linnane, Stefanie Pearlman, Brenna True, and Keelan Weber. At the 2019 AALL Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., MAALL hosted a business meeting luncheon, and the PR Committee unveiled a new MAALL poster. Two special task forces joined other MAALL committees this year. The MAALL History Committee obtained some archival materials from the University of Illinois, corrected our officer history, began writing biographies of those who have lent their names to our grants, and started expanding our narrative history. The Vision Planning Task Force updated the work of the last three-year plan with a new 2020-2023 plan that the board approved in November. Throughout the year President Karen Wallace wrote a monthly discussion list feature, First Friday Fanfare, to celebrate member activities and accomplishments and encourage a sense of community, supplementing the ongoing work of the MAALL Markings newsletter team.

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