Annual Reports: Grants & Chapter Awards Committee

Members:  

  • Stephanie Crawford
  • Denise Glynn
  • Naomi Goodman
  • Sally Holterhoff
  • Betty Roeske
  • Susan Seibers

Liaison: JoAnn Hounshell

This year CALL offered two grants of up to $750 for the AALL Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX. The Committee awarded the two AALL grants in 2013-14 to Jesse Bowman, Valparaiso University Law School Library and to Joanne Kiley, Locke Lord LLP.

The annual CALL awards were presented at the May 15, 2014 CALL business meeting. This year, CALL acknowledged two of our finest librarians with the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Law Librarianship Award.  

Lifetime Achievement Awards

Julia Wentz, who retired from Loyola University Chicago School of Law Library in July 2013 was recognized for her many contributions since joining CALL in 1998. Throughout her career, Julia developed a strong record of participation in law librarianship associations and their activities. Julia served on the CALL Board of Directors from 2003 to 2005, and was also a member of the Program Committee, the Public Relations Committee, and the Grants and Awards Committee. As a member of AALL for the past 27 years, Julia has served in a number of leadership roles within the Association. Julia continues to generously mentor experienced, as well as, new law librarians. That generosity, in addition to her many accomplishments is wonderful evidence of her service to our Association and our profession.

The Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Law Librarianship Award was also presented to Eloise Vondruska, who retired from the Pritzker Legal Research Center at Northwestern University School of Law in February 2014. Eloise was recognized for 25 years of service and active involvement across the legal and library community. She shared her wealth of knowledge in librarianship through her involvement in AALL, ALA and ILA sections, serving on committees and executive boards in each of these professional organizations.  Eloise has been a frequent guest lecturer on technical services, cataloging, and library management and LEEP program adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois.

Agnes and Harvey Reid Award

The Agnes and Harvey Reid Award for Outstanding Contribution to Law Librarianship was awarded to Keith Ann Stiverson of the Chicago-Kent College of Law Library. Keith Ann’s passion is government relations and public policy. She has diligently been advocating for the adoption of the Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act (UELMA). Early on she recognized the importance of providing the public with permanent, authenticated access to online legal information and has served as the AALL Observer to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws Drafting Committee on UELMA. Keith Ann has demonstrated her commitment to the future of our profession as an adjunct professor at Dominican University’s library information science program and serving as a mentor to countless new librarians. In these uncertain times for law librarians, her peers acknowledged Keith Ann’s service to the profession and her vision for the future by electing her to the office of AALL Vice President/President-Elect.

In-House Publication Awards

This year CALL presented two awards for Outstanding In-House Publication, one award in the print category and the second in the electronic category.   The Library and Technology Services Department of the John Marshall School of Law was honored for two print publications that are useful, creative, well designed and fulfilled their intended purpose.

The JMLS Library & Technology Times, a monthly newsletter, keeps faculty and students informed of cool new tools, events in the library and library resources. The newsletter contains colorful graphics and screen shots that does not distract from the information. The Library & Technology Guide for Students was created as a one-stop guide to the most frequently asked questions about library services and technology. John Marshall School of Law’s Library and Technology Services Department succeeded in providing their students with a quick-start guide to their services.

Scott Vanderlin was honored for his creation of the Chicago-Kent College of Law Library’s new video tour. He developed a video that balanced the needs of the library user and the librarian. The video engages the user with a clean professional look and provides useful information. At the same time, the creative format of the video makes it easy for librarians to edit. Even though the video consists of a series of photographs and no actual moving images, Scott zoomed and panned over the pictures to give the look of movement, which keeps the viewer engaged.  The use of color along with black and white photographs of people and places keeps the video visually interesting. The music, obtained with a librarian-friendly Creative Commons license, provides a professional touch to the video. An honorable mention goes to Kim Koppen Library Technology Specialist, for her narration of the video.

As part of its housekeeping duties, the Committee also reviewed the criteria for grants and the criteria for awards, sending recommendations for Board consideration. The Committee worked with the Public Relations Committee to establish a committee page on the CALL website. A new access point was created on the website which helps CALL members to easily find grants and awards information.