Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2015
Editor(s)
Michelle M. Wu
Publisher
William S. Hem & Co., Inc.
Language
en-US
Abstract
A successful contemporary law library director should seek opportunities to insert the law library, wherever possible, into projects that benefit the law school and its mission and that draw on the talents and expertise of the law librarians. The goal of the modern law library director should be to make the law library an integral part of each and every undertaking within the law school community. Every facet of the law school and its various departments and offices can benefit from either law library research and instructional services or the creative thinking and analytical orientation that librarians bring to the table. Even projects, initiatives, or programs that on their face seem to have no relationship to libraries should be considered fair game for library input and collaboration. It is this kind of integration into the law school community that will make law libraries indispensable and help to ensure our continued relevance.
Facilitating this kind of law library integration into every facet of the enterprise of legal education involves much more than merely responding to requests for assistance. It means being proactive in seeking out opportunities for library involvement. It means paying attention to cues and subtle inferences from colleagues that signal a desire for help or an unmet need. It means thinking about law school-wide work flows and how the law library can aid in streamlining them. It could also mean thinking about how to reimagine past project failures - library or other - and recreating them as successful law library undertakings.
Recommended Citation
Ronald E. Wheeler,
Library Director as Opportunity Identifier
,
in
Academic Law Library Director Perspectives: Case Studies and Insights
195
(Michelle M. Wu ed.,
2015).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/1044
