1974 - The first annual meeting, pursuant to the constitution, took place on June 7, 1974, in scenic Jefferson City, Missouri. After Jean Ashman retired, Roger Jacobs assumed the presidency, and D.A. Divilbiss was elected Vice President/President Elect.
1975 - The next annual meeting of MAALL was held on January 31, 1975, at the newly constructed St. Louis University Law Library. After Marcia Koslov moved to Wisconsin, Gerry Bosler was elected Secretary/Treasurer.
Roger Jacobs presented the petition for chapter status of MAALL to the Executive Board of AALL in June 1975. The petition was received favorably, and MAALL became a chapter of AALL at that time. During 1975, MAALL held meetings in January, June, and November.
1976 - On October 23, 1976, D.A. Divilbiss became MAALL President during the annual meeting in the picturesque Missouri Supreme Court Building in Jefferson City. Charley Dyer was elected Secretary/Treasurer, and Bob Kelley was elected Vice President/President Elect. The educational program centered around the legislative and administrative history of Missouri, the Missouri Register, and the Code of State Regulations.
1977 - For the fourth annual meeting held on October 21-22, 1977, MAALL traveled outside Missouri to the Southern Illinois University School of Law, where Roger Jacobs and Elizabeth Slusser Kelly greeted the registrants. The general theme of the educational segment was administrative law. The majority of the discussions were prepared by members of MAALL.
1978 - The fifth annual meeting of MAALL took place on October 13-14, 1978 in the Lakeside Center for the Study of Youth Development, in Boys Town, Nebraska. President D.A. Divilbiss welcomed forty law librarians to a professional program on new and traditional information systems, chaired by Carol Boast. Roger Jacobs flew from Washington, D.C. to discuss the information resources of the Supreme Court. Elizabeth Slusser Kelly was elected Vice-President/President Elect. Julia O'Neil was elected secretary, and Catherine Koenig was elected Treasurer.
1979 - On October 11-12, 1979, fifty librarians attended the sixth annual meeting of MAALL in the stately Mayfair Hotel of the Gateway City, St. Louis. Library management was the general theme of the panels, keynoted by Albert Brecht. The social highlight was to return to the Whittemore House of Washington University, where the MAALL constitution had been approved in 1973.
1980 - The seventh annual meeting of MAALL was conducted from September 12-13, 1980 within the friendly confines of the University of Iowa Law School, with a side trip to the quaint Amana Colonies. The program committee was chaired by Ann Puckett with the assistance of Kathie Belgum and James H. Gritton. Honored guest at the banquet was Dr. Redmond A. Burke from the Department of Library Science at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The final order of business was the passing of the presidential gavel to Elizabeth Slusser Kelly, under whose administration the currently published MAALL Newsletter, volume l, number l was distributed in October, 1980.
1981 - The eighth annual meeting of MAALL took place in the "Sunshine State" of Kansas at the Washburn University Law School on September 11 and 12, 1981. It was preceded by a seminar on Dialog on September 10. Richard Boss, consultant on library systems, gave the registrants up-to-date advice on the technology of microcomputers, telefacsimile machines, and electronic mail. Eileen Searls, Susan Csaky, and Bob Knecht led a panel discussion on conservation of library media. Mark Linneman, who had been serving as MAALL Treasurer, flew to a library directorship in Melbourne, Australia, after transferring the fund and records to Sharon Pickett, the new Treasurer.
1982 - The ninth annual meeting of Mid-America Association of Law Libraries drew a large attendance to the newly constructed Hiram H. Lesar Law Building of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. The star attraction was the law library, which featured all the latest technology of the information age as well as a rare book room to preserve the bibliographic treasures of the past. MAALL members presented an educational panel on administration and management of law libraries. At the conclusion of the meeting, Carol Boast assumed the presidency, and Eileen Searls became President Elect. Joan Ahrens became Secretary, and Sharon Pickett continued as Treasurer.
1983 - The tenth annual meeting of MAALL was held at Marriott's Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri on November 10-12, 1983. Despite the lovely setting, the meetings were well attended, with a focus on legal database services and information technology. For the first time, MAALL invited vendors to exhibit at the annual meeting, which proved to be a popular decision. Jim Hoover and Roger Jacobs spoke at the meeting. MAALL Union List agents met through the coordination of Marilyn Nicely.
1984 - On October 11-13, 1984, the eleventh annual meeting of MAALL was held at the University of Illinois, in Champaign-Urbana. Unfortunately, Carol Boast's new position as Head of the University of Illinois Agriculture Library caused her, in accordance with MAALL by-laws prohibiting anyone not officially connected with a law library from holding an office in the association, to resign the MAALL presidency as of August 21, 1984. Thus, Eileen Searls conducted the business meeting in Champaign. Many prominent speakers were featured from within and outside the Association, including AALL President Jacqui Jurkins, Jerry Dupont, and Sally Wiant. "Management" at many levels was discussed. Eileen Searls became President, and Katherine Belgum became Vice President/President Elect shortly prior to the meeting. Sharon O'Donoghue became Treasurer, and Avis Forsman became Secretary.
1985 - The twelfth annual meeting was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma on October 24-26, 1985. The theme of the meeting was "Managing Resources and Environment." The meeting proper was preceded by a pre-conference program on teaching computer-assisted legal research, sponsored by Mead Data Central. Laura Gasaway, AALL Vice President/President Elect, spoke at the opening luncheon as well as the first afternoon session. Another highlight was the presentation by University of Tulsa psychologists Robert T. Hogan and Eric T. Nelson on managing stress and its effects.
1986 - The Clarion Hotel in St. Louis was the site of the thirteenth annual meeting of MAALL on October 30 through November 1, 1986. This year's program focused on business reference sources for the law librarian. Kathie Belgum became President at this meeting; Peter Schanck became Vice President/President Elect; and James Milles was elected Secretary. Sharon O'Donoghue had to step down as Treasurer when she joined Mead Data Central, and Hal Brown, who had been appointed acting Treasurer, was elected to that position.
1987 - The fourteenth annual meeting took the members of MAALL to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. At the opening luncheon, Judge Deanell R. Tacha of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, spoke on constitutional law in the courts. The subject of that year's program was laser disc technology with exhibits by several laser disc and CD-ROM vendors being featured.
1988 - MAALL held its fifteenth annual meeting in Iowa City, Iowa, home of Kathie Belgum, on October 20-22, 1988. The meeting included a wide spectrum of programs within the MAALL acronym: Management, Acquisition, Automation, and Law for Law librarians. Highlighting the program were surveys of current developments in law by five knowledgeable and articulate professors on the University of Iowa College of Law faculty. Peter Schanck became the new president at the meeting; Sally Wise was elected Vice President/President Elect; Laurel Wendt became the new Secretary; and Peggy McDermott was elected Treasurer, while Kathie Belgum continued on the Executive Board as immediate past president.
1989 - The sixteenth annual meeting constituted a radical departure for MAALL. It joined together with five other AALL chapters (Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio Regional, and Wisconsin) covering 15 states to hold a super-regional meeting in Chicago on October 26-28, 1989. The meeting, called the Midwest Regional Conference of Law Librarians, included a large array of programs and several well known outside speakers such as Dean Herbert White of the University of Indiana Library Science School. MAALL members John Edwards and Lori Hunt served as co-chairs of the very busy and successful Program Committee.
1990 - With the seventeenth annual meeting, MAALL went to the home of its President, Peter Schanck. The meeting was held in Lawrence, Kansas on October 11-13, 1990. The theme of the meeting was "Libraries and Change: The Decade Ahead." Bill James the author of The Baseball Abstracts and The Baseball Book 1990 was the luncheon speaker. Sally Wise became President at this meeting. Lori Hunt (Weiss) was elected Vice President/President elect; Angie Lange was elected Secretary; and Cheryl Rae Nyberg was elected Treasurer. Peter Schanck continued on the Executive Board as Past President.
1991 - The eighteenth annual meeting was held in Columbia, Missouri on October 10-12, 1991 at the University of Missouri-Columbia's recently completed law school building. The theme was "Law Libraries: Designs For the Future." The opening luncheon speaker was the Honorable Edward Robertson, Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. Law librarians, law faculty, library design specialists, and others were speakers. No elections were held that year. However, it was decided to stagger the election years of the Treasurer and Secretary.
1992 - From October 22-24, 1992, the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska was the location for the nineteenth annual meeting. The theme was "1992: A Year of Discovery." A variety of programs were offered including a pre-conference workshop on library collection preservation and a MALSLC sponsored support staff workshop on effective interpersonal communication. The opening luncheon featured "Marlene Snyder as Clara Colby: A Chautauqua Style Presentation of a Prominent Nebraska Suffragist of the Late 1800's." Lori Weiss became President; Ann Fessenden was elected Vice President/President elect; Cheryl Nyberg remained as Treasurer; and Jo Ann Humphreys was elected Secretary.
1993 - MAALL celebrated its 20th anniversary in Little Rock, Arkansas from October 12-16, 1993 with the theme of "MAALL: Twenty Years of Working Together." Justice David Newbern of the Arkansas Supreme Court was the speaker at the opening luncheon. The MALSLC staff workshop was on imaging technology, and joint sessions on legal research featuring Bob Berring were held with the Arkansas Bar Association. Ann Fessenden became President; Lynn Foster was elected Vice President/President Elect; Sharon Kern was elected as Treasurer; and Jo Ann Humphreys remained as Secretary.
1994 - Iowa's capital was the site for MAALL's twenty-first annual meeting from October 13 to 15, 1994. Justice Marsha Ternus of the Iowa Supreme Court welcomed attendees to Des Moines with her talk at the opening luncheon. The initial program session on "The Coming Revolution in Legal Citation Form" set the stage for interesting programs throughout the conference, including several Internet sessions and the MALSLC workshop on copyright. Friday evening included a tour of the Bridges of Madison County made famous by Robert Waller's book. Although Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep were not seen due to filming at another location in the county, several MAALL members were interviewed for a syndicated TV program about the covered bridges. Lynn Foster became President; John Edwards became Vice President/President Elect; Sharon Kern remained as Treasurer; and Jo Ann Humphreys was re-elected as Secretary.
1995 - The 22nd annual meeting was held in Topeka, Kansas and hosted by Washburn University Law Library. Arthur Benson, the plaintiff's trial attorney for Jenkins v. Missouri was the speaker at the opening luncheon. Linda Brown Thompson and Cheryl Brown Henderson, plaintiffs in the historic Brown v. Board of Education, spoke on the legacy of this trial. One of the high points of the meeting was the opportunity to attend the Treasures of the Czars exhibit. Program topics included time management, collection analysis, government documents, Internet, using the Net in reference work, doing more with less, and a librarian's survival guide to computer and technology demands. John Edwards became President; Judy Morgan was elected Vice President/President-Elect; Jack Montgomery was elected as Treasurer; and Jo Ann Humphreys remained as Secretary.
1996 - For the 23rd annual meeting, MAALL members traveled to Carbondale, Illinois to the campus of Southern Illinois University. The theme of the October 24-26, 1996 meeting was "The Millennium: Assessing, Advancing, Leading Libraries (MAALL)." Jeanne Hurley Simon, Chair of the U.S. National Commission of Libraries and Information Science, served as the keynote speaker at the opening luncheon. Program sessions provided discussions of Cyberlaw, designing the new library, the Internet, Web sites, Web pages, computer personnel, CD-ROMs, integration of various formats, GPO access, interns and externs, and "managing your boss". Discussions often continued into the evening's hospitality suite at the Holiday Inn. Memorable social events included a magician at the opening reception and a "buffalo trio" with bluegrass music on Friday night. (Buffalo was not available so beef was cooked on open coals with vegetarians enjoying lasagna.) Judy Morgan became President; James E.Duggan was elected Vice-President/President Elect; Marilyn Nicely was elected Secretary; Jack Montgomery continued as Treasurer. Kay Andrus accepted a plaque in memory of Evelyn Gardner in recognition of her service to MAALL. Members also took special note of the passing of Secretary Jo Ann Humphreys, who died a few days before the meeting began. As a permanent tribute to Jo Ann, the travel grant for the Newsletter editor was named the Jo Ann Humphreys Award.
1997 - The 24th annual meeting was held October 16-18, 1997 at the newly opened Embassy Suites, Omaha, Nebraska, and was hosted by an enthusiastic local arrangements committee consisting of members from Creighton University Law Library, The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Branch Library, Legal Information Services, and the law firms of Baird, Holm, McEachen, Pederson, Hamann & Strasheim; Kutak Rock; and McGrath, North, Mullin & Katz. Kay Andrus, Creighton University Law Library, was Local Arrangements Chair. Setting the theme of the meeting, :Online in Omaha," was keynote speaker Bob Wolfson, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, Plains State Region, who spoke on "Censorship, Hate Speech, and the Internet." Other popular programs were presented on a variety of "electronic age" topics such as reference & the internet, computer security, choosing web search engines, and cataloging the net. Social events included a Thursday evening reception and tour held at the historic Kutak Rock Law Firm, as well as a fascinating Friday tour of the Lied Jungle and banquet at the Tree Tops Restaurant. The Saturday programs were held at Creighton University Law School. James E. Duggan became President, Mary Kay Jung was elected Vice-President/President-Elect, Marilyn Nicely continued as Secretary, and Janet McKinney was elected Treasurer.
1998 - For its 25th Annual Meeting, MAALL joined forces with the Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin Associations for LibraryFest Midwest: Law Libraries and Change in the Information Age, held in Milwaukee October 8-10, 1998. Local arrangements, ably handled by the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin, included an Opening Reception at the Reinhard, Boerner, Van Deuren, Norris & Reisenbach Law Library. The Minnesota Association of Law Libraries was responsible for the program with a big boost from MAALL which developed six of the fourteen programs, including sessions on attorney training, citator services, paraprofessional development and the Internet. Both keynote speakers provided food for thought with their remarks on changes in their lives and the law. Opening Keynote Speaker, Janine Geske, discussed leaving the Wisconsin Supreme Court half-way through her term in order to rejoin the faculty of the Marquette University Law School and become more involved in pro bono work. Closing Keynote Speaker, Stephan W. Stove, Administrative Director of the Supreme Court of Ohio, spoke on his involvement with the First National Conference on Public Trust & Confidence in the Justice System and its possible impact on the judicial system and our lives. At the MAALL Business Meeting, Mary Kay Jung became President; Glen-Peter Ahlers was elected Vice-President/President-Elect; Crata Castleberry was elected Secretary and Janet McKinney continued as Treasurer.
1999 - MAALL held its 26th Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. The meeting was held October 14-16, 1999, at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel on the Plaza. The theme of "Bridging the Centuries" included such topics as "Training the Internet Trainer," a "Y2K Update: Litigation and Legislation," and "Public Relations: Without Bells and Whistles." One of the presenters of this program was Linda Roser, who is with the Jackson County Law Library, winner of the AALL Marketing Award for best campaign in 1999 for its "Share Good Books" program. Attendees were treated to a delightful opening speaker, Charles W. Gusewelle, a reporter for the Kansas City Star. The opening reception was Thursday evening at the new Jazz/Negro League Baseball Museum. Tours included a trip to the Linda Hall Library, the largest privately-supported library for science in the United States. The reception Friday evening gave everyone the opportunity to tour the newly-opened Charles Evans Whittaker U.S. Courthouse and library. The library, which is located on the 10th floor, provided a panoramic view of Kansas City. Glen-Peter Ahlers, Sr. became President. Mary Ann Nelson became the newly-elected Vice President/President-elect, and Sally Crowley became the newly-elected Treasurer. Crata Castleberry continues as Secretary.
2000 - The 27th Annual Meeting was held October 12-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and was hosted by the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Law Library staff. The keynote speaker was Pamela Q. L. Andre, Director of the National Agricultural Library, who spoke about the library and several of its current projects. There were programs both Thursday and Friday including: Agricultural Law, Technologies of Freedom, Presidential Libraries, Internet Filtering, Management of Personnel During Interesting Times, Indian Law, and Fundraising in Public Academic Law Libraries. Saturday the entire session was devoted to a presentation by Lolly Gassaway on Copyright Update for Librarians and was held at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Thursday evening was held at the Tyson retreat. Friday afternoon was a tour of Loislaw headquarters. At the MAALL business meeting Mary Ann Nelson became president, Tranne Pearce was elected Vice-President/President Elect, Dorie Bertram was elected Secretary and Sally Crowley continued as Treasurer.
2001 - The 28th Annual Meeting was held October 25-27, 2001 in St. Louis, Missouri. Attendees enjoyed visiting many of the area law libraries that hosted the meeting. An opening reception was held at the recently constructed Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse, home of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit Library. On Friday, St. Louis University Law School hosted dinner in its atrium and Washington University School of Law offered dessert in its reading room. Tours of the libraries at Bryan Cave LLP and Thompson Coburn LLP were also offered. Prof. Robert Berring gave the keynote speech. At the business meeting, Tranne Pearce became president, Barbara Fullerton was elected Vice-President/President Elect, and Needra Jackson was elected as Treasurer. Dorie Bertram continued as Secretary. Before the next annual meeting, however, a variety of causes led to an almost complete restructuring of the Executive Board. Barbara Fullerton resigned as Vice-President/President-Elect after taking a new job in Texas. Then, in July, Needra Jackson resigned as Treasurer to have more time to attend to her mother's health. Finally, late in August, Tranne Pearce resigned as President when she unexpectedly retired from her position at the U.S. Courts Library in Kansas City. Janet McKinney, an experienced MAALL Treasurer, was appointed to fill Needra's slot. Susan Goldner was appointed to the Vice-President's position in July and then suddenly became President in August.
2002 - The 29th Annual Meeting, held November 7-9, 2002 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois was a joint meeting with the Chicago Association of Law Libraries, hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Law Library staff. The meeting, themed "Making the Connection!" included a number of speakers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science faculty. Saturday featured a "show and tell," highlighting holdings of the University of Illinois Library System, which has nearly 10 million volumes and over 40 special collections. Rare legal books were among the featured items. At the business meeting, Kay Andrus was elected Vice-President/President Elect and Charlie Condon was elected Secretary. Janet McKinney continues as Treasurer and Susan Goldner as President.
2003 - The 30th Annual Meeting was held October 2-4, 2003 in Norman, Oklahoma and hosted by the University of Oklahoma Law Library staff. It was themed "MAALL Together in Norman, OK." At the business meeting, Kay Andrus assumed the Presidency. Janet McKinney was elected Vice-President/President Elect and Sharon Kern was elected Treasurer. Charlie Condon continued as Secretary.
2004 - The 31st Annual Meeting, held October 14-16, 2004 in Des Moines, Iowa, was a joint meeting with the Minnesota Association of Law Libraries (MALL). The meeting was hosted by the Drake University Law Library staff, with assistance from law librarians from Davis Brown Koehn Shors & Roberts, Dickinson Law Firm, Kutak Rock LLP (Omaha), Principal Financial Group, State Law Library of Iowa, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Des Moines Branch Library. The theme, "The Future is Now," was evident throughout the meeting, from keynote speaker Dennis Kennedy, an information technology/e-commerce attorney, to programs on "New Strategies for Teaching Advanced Legal Research," Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), and "Business Civility & Etiquette" in the age of cell phones and e-mail. On Thursday night, several dine-arounds at local restaurants were well-attended. Friday programs were held at the Drake University Law School, and afternoon tours were available at Drake's Law Library, Legal Clinic, and the American Judicature Society's new headquarters on the Drake campus. Tours of the new Iowa Judicial Branch Building and of three downtown firm/corporate libraries (Davis, Brown firm; Dickinson firm; Principal Financial Group) were also offered. Friday night a reception was held in the beautiful, historic State Law Library, located in the Iowa Capitol building. At the business meeting, Janet McKinney assumed the MAALL Presidency, Brian Striman assumed the office of Vice-President/President-elect, and Lorraine Lorne became Secretary. Sharon Kern continued as Treasurer. In anticipation of her upcoming retirement from the University of Oklahoma, Marilyn Nicely was recognized for nearly 30 years of service to law librarianship and MAALL.
2005 - The 32nd Annual Meeting was held October 6-8, 2005 in Grand Forks, North Dakota and was hosted by the University of South Dakota Law Library staff. The theme of the meeting was "Great Past, Grand Future." On Thursday, October 6th, the keynote address, "Law Librarianship in the Grand Manner" was presented by Associate Dean Roger Jacobs, then Director of the Kresge Law Library and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. On Friday and Saturday morning, programs included topics such as automated selection, teaching legal research, and OCLC's Collection Management Service. On Saturday afternoon, an Introduction to American Indian Law was provided by Professor Matthew Fletcher, Assistant Professor and Director of the Northern Plains Indian Law Center and Assistant Professor Wenona Singel. At the MAALL business meeting Brian Striman assumed the MAALL presidency. John Christensen was elected Vice-President/President Elect, Marilyn Nicely was elected Secretary. Robert Mead was elected Treasurer, but was unable to serve out his term. As a result, Darla Jackson was appointed interim treasurer.
2006 - MAALL's 33rd Annual Meeting was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma on October 19-October 21st, 2006 and was hosted by the University of Tulsa Law Library staff. The theme of the meeting was "Educate, Celebrate, Collaborate." The keynote speaker was Tulsa lawyer and author William Bernhardt, best known for his courtroom novels featuring the character of Ben Kincaid. Programs at the meeting addressed topics such as automated selection, teaching legal research, and OCLC's Collection Management Service. An article about the conference and the program for the conference were published in the Tulsa Daily Commerce & Legal News. At the MAALL business meeting John Christensen assumed the MAALL presidency. No elections were held because MAALL began utilizing online elections via the AALL website. Lee Peoples was elected as the Vice-President/President Elect. Marilyn Nicely and Darla Jackson continued their service as Secretary and Treasurer. In addition, two new Executive Board positions, Member-at-Large, were created. Members-at-Large serve two-year terms, with one being elected each year. Brenda Foote was elected to a one-year term (to ensure staggered elections), and Liz Glankler was elected to a two-year term.
2007 - The 34th Annual Meeting was held November 1-3, 2007 in Lincoln Nebraska and local arrangements were made by the University of Nebraska Library staff. "MAALL: The Possibilities are Limitless" was the theme of the meeting. The opening luncheon address was given by Rivkah Sass, Library Journal's 2006 Librarian of the Year. She spoke about the need to be a risk taker, agent of change, and true believer in the library. Roy Mersky, the "godfather" of modern law librarianship, spoke at the opening reception, which was held at the Nebraska State Capitol. Participants were welcomed to the Capitol by Chief Justice Michael Heavican. Mr. Mersky's keynote address included a discussion of the role of legal dictionaries in the research of law. Programs at the meeting addressed a variety of topics, including ereaders, technology in legal research, relevancy rankings in search engines, law practice technology, and empirical research. Joe Christensen, Inc. printed the program for the meeting and opened up the plant for tours by annual meeting participants. AALL President Ann Fessenden addressed the membership as the AALL Visitor. At the MAALL business meeting, Lee Peoples assumed the MAALL presidency. In an online election, Joe Custer was elected as the Vice-President/President Elect, Jan Medved was elected as Treasurer, and Karen Wallace was elected as Member-at-Large. Marilyn Nicely continued her service as Secretary.
2008 - MAALL's 35th Annual Meeting was held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, October 16-18, 2008. The theme of the meeting was "MAALL in the Mountains," and the meeting was hosted by the staff of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Law Library Staff. The opening luncheon address was provided by Louise Levy Schaper, Executive Director of the Fayetteville Public Library. The Fayetteville Public Library building received the US Green Building Council's LEED Silver certification and was named the Library was named the 2005 Library Journal Library of the Year. The Keynote Address was deliverd by Elizabeth Ann Eckford, a member of the Little Rock Nine (the nine African American students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas in 1957. AALL President James Duggan addressed the MAALL membership as the AALL Visitor. Programs at the meeting addressed a variety of topics, including ABA Questionnaire, budgeting in a recession, the use of multimedia in legal education, and digitizing federal law and legislative history in the Farm Bill Project. At the MAALL business meeting, Joe Custer assumed the Presidency. In an online election, Darla Jackson was elected as the Vice-President/President Elect, Pam Tull was elected as Secretary, and Jeri Kay Hopkins was elected as Member-at-Large. Jan Medved continued her service as Treasurer.
2009 - The 36th Annual Meeting was held in Columbia, Missouri, October 15-17, 2009. The meeting was hosted by the Law Library staff of the University of Missouri, Columbia. "Show Me the Past-Imagine the Future" was the theme of the meeting. The keynote address was provided by Dean Stephen Easton, University of Wyoming College of Law. Dean Easton spoke on the use of historic trials in legal education. On Thursday evening, participants visited the restored Missouri Theatre and were entertained by an historic trial reenactment by the Historical and Theatrical Trial Society of the University of Missouri Columbia. During the program, Professor Doug Linder showcased his Famous Trials site, the web's largest and most visited collection of original essays, images, and primary documents pertaining to great trials. Dean Easton and Professor Linder's programs were made possible, in part, by a grant received via the BNA/AALL Continuing Education Grants Program (CEGP). CEGP also allowed funded programming on dispute resolution in the library offered by Paul Ladehoff. Other programming at the meeting included a presentation by Professor Rodney Uphoff, who served as one of four attorneys appointed to represent Terry Nichols during the prosecution in Oklahoma State Court for his involvement in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building. Words of experience were also offered by Justice Mary Russell of the Missouri Supreme Court and former Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, Ann Covington. Additional programs on open source library systems, developing a teaching philosophy, and collection decisions in times of shrinking budgets were also offered. On Friday, October 16, MAALL members were also invited to participate in a copyright workshop lead by Kevin Smith, Scholarly Communications Officer at Duke University. At the MAALL business meeting, Darla Jackson assumed the presidency. In an online election, Richard Leiter was elected as Vice President/President Elect, Courtney Selby was elected as Treasurer, and Kathryn Hahn was elected as Member-at-Large. Pam Tull continued her service as Secretary.
2010 - 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.
2011 - 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.
2012 - 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 Ted Potter assumed the presidency and Jeri Kay Hopkins became Vice President/President Elect. 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.
2013 - 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 and Cindy Bassett became Vice President/President Elect. 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.
2014 - The 41st MAALL Annual Meeting was held Sunday, October 5 - Tuesday October 7th, 2015 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.
2015 - 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.
2016 - MAALL held its 43rd Annual 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.
2017 - 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.
2018 - 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.
2019 – 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 new generic 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.
2020 – MAALL's 47th Annual Meeting, themed Setting the Pace, was held virtually for the first time in MAALL history due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In an effort to make the meeting accessible for everyone during what would turnout to be a global pandemic, the meeting was offered online via Zoom, free of charge. The programs kicked off with 13 programs in total being held and 7 vendor demonstrations. The first set of programs was held October 15th-16th, and the second set was held October 21st-23rd. Among these programs were those focused on removing barriers, teaching in the time of Covid, and a Book to Action program centered around the book Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America. At the business meeting, Lacy Brust (Rakestraw) became Past President, Matt Braun became the President, and Chris Steadham became Vice President/President Elect. Allison Reeve Davis served as Secretary, Gail Wechsler served as Treasurer, and Rebecca Lutkenhaus and Rena Seidler served as Members at Large. After a surge in attacks against individuals related to race, the MAALL Exec Board decided to adopt a 21-Day Racial Equity challenge. This was an attempt to give members a forum to speak out on issues related to the need for impartiality, the presence of racial inequalities, and the need for better access to justice. Exec Board members posted moving videos and promoted books and art they found spoke to the cause.
2023 – MAALL’s Annual Meeting had the theme Back for the Future and was held at Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa, October 12 – 14, 2023. It was the first Annual Meeting held in-person since going virtual in 2020. Programming included five MALLCO Roundtables and a paper workshop; 19 educational sessions; tours of the Drake Law Library; a reception at Drake’s Cowles Library, including a Law School history exhibit; five vendor demos and seven exhibitors. Most attendees stayed at the Hilton Home2 Suites, which was just a stone’s throw from the law school and provided a free hot breakfast. Having all the meetings, lunches, and the reception on campus made it possible to keep the registration costs at a pre-pandemic level and finish in the black. Drake President, Earl F. “Marty” Martin welcomed attendees and Prof. Anthony Gaughan gave the keynote address during the opening Keynote Luncheon. Michelle Hook Dewey was the AALL Visitor. This year’s Book to Action program had readers discuss Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of our Nation by Linda Villarosa while book and monetary donations benefited the Gregory & Suzie Glazer Burt Boys & Girls Club of Central Iowa. At the business meeting, Allison Reeve Davis became Past President, Le’Shawn Turner assumed the Presidency, Matt Timko became Vice President/President Elect, Jennifer Mart-Rice became Treasurer, Cindy Shearrer continued as Secretary, Shannon Kemmen continued as Member-at-Large, and Laura Wilcoxon assumed the other Member-at-Large position. Travel grants were awarded to Sherry Taylor and Timothy Gatton (Liz Glanker Travel Grants); Matt Timko and Benjamin Keele (Jo Ann Humphreys Travel Grants); Abdulrahman Alzahrani (Diversity & Inclusion Grant); and Le’Shawn Turner. The inaugural MAALL Service Award went to Gail Wechsler and Cindy Basset for their years of effort with Book to Action. Successes outside of the Annual Meeting included the implementation of Google Account Recovery best practices and instructions for all Board and Committee accounts. MAALL’s Summer Business Meeting was held virtually on June 27 and the annual luncheon was held during AALL’s Annual Meeting in Boston on July 17. The Website Committee started a review of theme templates available through Wild Apricot and will continue work on transitioning the MAALL website into a new design.