Meeting image

CALL Committee Round-Up

The CALL Committee Round-Up is a CALL Bulletin featured column where all of our committees provide an update for us each issue to let us know what they are working on.

Archives Committee:

Co-Chairs: Therese Arado and Annie Mentkowski
Member: Sharon Nelson

Committee Chairs – Please do not forget to send appropriate CALL materials to be archived to:

CALL Archives Committee
C/O Therese Clarke Arado & Annie Mentkowski
Northern Illinois University College of Law
David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library
DeKalb, IL 60115

Bulletin Committee:

Co-Chairs: Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Scott Vanderlin, and Lindsey Ann Carpino
Members: Emily Barney, Debbie Ginsberg, Juanita Harrell, Philip Johnson, Annie Mentkowski, Jill Meyer, Stacia Stein, Clanitra Stewart Nejdl, LeighAnne Thompson, Donna Tuke

The Bulletin Committee is working hard to provide you with relevant content that meet member needs. We will be incorporating your feedback from the CALL member survey in creating articles and columns that you would like to hear about. We are also working to get the CALL Bulletin on HeinOnline! We will keep you updated on this process. As always, we are looking to hear from you! Please send us any articles, pitches, ideas or thoughts.

Bylaws Committee:

Chair: Deborah L. Rusin

No news to share.

Community Service Committee:

Co-Chairs: Julie Swanson and Lucy Robbins
Members: Susan Retzer, Jennifer Lubejko, Joanne Kiley, Jamie Stewart, Simone Srinivasan

The Community Service Committee’s goals this year are to collaborate with other CALL committees to communicate effectively with committees and members and to seek and coordinate volunteer events that will foster a sense of community service and networking opportunities for members.

The Community Service Committee has been active this fall. At the September business meeting, we collected four boxes of school supplies to donate to Chicago Public Schools and $120.00 in cash donations to benefit HEART (Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers). At the November meeting, we collected in kind donations for the Greater Chicago Food Depository and monetary donations for Toys for Tots.

In addition to the usual business meeting activity, we are actively trying to find interesting volunteer opportunities for the community. In September, CALL members volunteered at the Alliance for Great Lakes “Adopt-a-Beach” event.  Another volunteer opportunity, active now, is at the Center for Economic Progress (CEP). They are looking for volunteers to work one-on-one with low income families with tax assistance. For more information, please see the posting on the CALL website.

If anyone knows of other volunteer opportunities that may be of interest to the CALL members, please do not hesitate to reach out to either Julie Swanson, jswanson@ngelaw.com or Lucy Robbins, lrobbi2@luc.edu.

Thanks to everyone for your donations and time!

Continuing Education Committee:

Co-Chairs: Jessie Bowman and Carolyn Hersch
Members: Sharon Nelson, Tom Keefe, David Rogers, Jamie Stewart, Simone Srinivasan

On Tuesday, October 20, around 20 CALL members gathered at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP for a panel discussion entitled, “Forecasting Opportunities for Rainmakers: Librarians as Strategic Partners to Lawyers.”  The discussion was moderated by John Wernikowski, the US Northeast Sales Director for Manzama, a business intelligence platform used by prominent law firms throughout the country. The panel featured two CALL members, June Liebert, Firmwide Director of Library Services for Sidley Austin LLP, and Vanessa Meihaus, Head Librarian for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates, as well as Holly Barocio, Marketing & Communications Manager for Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP.

Over the course of the hour, each of the panelists shared their thoughts on a variety of topics, including how librarians can work collaboratively with law firm marketing departments, embedding with practice and industry groups, and transitioning from providing traditional legal research to providing competitive intelligence. Panelists and attendees indicated that, although law libraries and marketing departments have traditionally acted independently from one another, collaboration is highly beneficial. Included in this discussion were several anecdotes, ranging from librarians attending marketing department meetings to library and marketing staff getting to know each other during happy hours.

Be on the lookout for additional continuing education opportunities after the start of the new year!

Corporate Memory Committee:

Chair: Betty Roeske
Members: Judy Gaskell, Christine Morong, Susan Siebers, Frank Drake

The Corporate Memory Committee met in September. Board minutes were reviewed through August 2015. Committee members that participated were: Frank Drake, Judy Gaskell, Chris Morong, and Susan Siebers. Thank you to our Board Liaison, Diana Koppang, for the Board minutes and updating the Policy Log.

Grants and Chapter Awards Committee:

Chair: Margaret Schilt
Members: Clanitra Stewart Nejdl, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Beth Schubert, Patricia Sayre-McCoy

The Grants and Chapter Awards Committee reminds you that grants from CALL are available for many professional development opportunities. See Eugene Giudice’s account of his experiences at the AALL Business Skills Clinic in this issue for an example. The criteria and the application form are available on the CALL website under Members Information.

Government Relations Committee:

Co-Chairs: Joseph Mitzenmacher and Clare M. Hoyt
Members: Tom Gaylord, Sally Holterhoff, Justin Franklin

Matt Timko has joined the Committee.

In addition to the 2015-16 Committee projects set out in the last issue of the Bulletin, we will also be working with the AALL GRC’s Digital Access to Legal Information (DALI) Committee to update the information on the Illinois page of DALI’s State Online Legal Information Web site.

Meetings Committee:

Chair: Eugene Giudice and Larissa Sullivant 
Members: Jill Meyer, Sara Baseggio, Todd Hillmer

While venues for the 2015-16 series of meetings have been set, the Meeting Arrangement Committee would like to turn over to their successors a list of potential venues suggested by the membership. Please keep this in mind when looking at venues: we need to be able to accommodate 120 people in one room, the venue must be able to do either a plated or buffet lunch, and must be able to accommodate a vegetarian option.

Membership Committee:

Co-Chairs: Therese Arado and Annie Mentkowski
Members: Christine Klobucar, Lindsey Carpino, Jeff Meyerowitz

There are no updates at this time.

Mentorship & Leadership Development Committee:

Co-Chairs: Jamie Sommer and Clare Willis
Members: Tom Gaylord, Gretchen Van Dam, Ben Brighoff

The Mentorship and Leadership Development Committee is proud to announce that we have made our first mentor-mentee matches. Anyone who is interested in having a mentor or serving as a mentor should fill out the form on the CALL website:

http://new.chicagolawlib.org/forms-for-members/mentorship-networking-form/

The MLDC also had another successful meet up at Bridge House Tavern on October 27th. We are also looking into ways to connect with new members and student members at CALL Business Meetings. So if you meet a new member at a meeting, please remind them to contact Jamie Sommer (jamie.sommer@law.northwestern.edu) or Clare Willis (cwillis@kentlaw.iit.edu) for an introduction.

Nominations & Elections Committee:

Chair: Maribel Nash
Members: Carolyn Hosticka, Tom Keefe, Sheri Lewis, Jean Wenger

The Nominations and Elections Committee has put together a great slate of candidates for the 2016-17 CALL Board (to view the slate, click here). The election will be held from February 15 to March 15, 2016. Stay tuned for voting instructions!

JoAnn Hounshell has graciously agreed to take over as chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee as of November 1, 2015. Thanks, JoAnn!

Placement and Recruitment Committee:

Chair: Karl Pettitt and Jessie LeMar
Members: Valerie Kropf, Gretchen Van Dam

The Placement and Recruitment Committee met with the CALL Board in October to discuss our committee plans for the upcoming year. We are continuing to work towards strengthening our connections with local and regional library programs and law schools. We will also be updating the CALL brochure so that we can make it available to possible employers and career placement and recruitment offices. Also of note, the 2015 Biennial AALL Salary Survey is now available. This is a very important tool for job seekers and employers in the law librarianship field. The salary data is broken down by position, experience and location, and can be very useful if you’re negotiating for a new position or annual review.

Have a position or opening at your firm or school? Don’t forget to let us know so we can spread the word to all the fantastic, qualified CALL members out there who may be interested!

Public Relations Committee:

Co-Chairs: Kara Young and Beth Schubert
Members:
Debbie Ginsberg, Emily Barney, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Joanne Kiley, Sharon Nelson, Scott Vanderlin, Britnee Cole

The PR Committee held a WordPress training session in November for all committee chairs and the executive board that covered the basics of posting to the CALL website. Committee chairs are encouraged to post news, updates, and events to the CALL site and should contact the PR Committee chairs with any additional requests for assistance.

In addition, the PR committee live-tweeted the September business meeting using the hashtag #CALLmeeting. CALL members are encouraged to follow CALL on our various social media channels: on Facebook and Twitter @CALLChicago and on LinkedIn at Chicago Association of Law Libraries. Direct links to our social media channels are also available from the CALL website.