The 2015-2016 Placement and Recruiting Committee was Jessie LeMar and Karl Pettitt (co-chairs), Valerie Kropf, and Gretchen Van Dam.
The committee choose to focus on four projects related to our charge. Specifically we worked on broadening the number of LIS schools that we post jobs to, creating a list of contacts for LIS school career services in and around the 7th Circuit, developing a list of libraries willing to participate in job shadowing, and updating the brochure used to advertise our services to law firms. To assist in these projects the committee created a non-public website where documentation could be maintained and project progress tracked.
The committee created a list of LIS Schools in and around the 7th Circuit where job postings that the committee receives could be posted. It was determined that most schools now use online portals to post jobs for LIS students and graduates to find for their institution. Credentials were created for the committee to post to these sites for each school that uses this services. The schools include:
- Indiana University—Purdue University, Indianapolis
- Indiana University, Bloomington
- University of Illinois, Urbana—Champaign
- Dominican University
- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- University of Michigan
Other schools that we have contact information for but that do not use an online career services portal include:
- Wayne State University
- University of Iowa
The login information for each of the portals listed above was placed on the committee website. Every job posting received that requested it was placed on each of the career services portals in addition to the CALL job list.
The committee also created a list of contact information for LIS school career services. We have expanded the list of contacts to include all the library programs within the geographical area of the 7th Circuit. The list includes the schools’ websites, career services/job placement contact person (if available), denotes those programs also offering a law degree, and provides links to any online job boards. This document has been added to the committee website.
In response to a request, the committee sent out a call for libraries willing and able to host individuals who wanted to learn more of law librarianship in its various forms. A number of academic and county law libraries answered the call and their contact information was kept for future use. However, there still remain difficulties in finding law firm libraries who are able to host individuals due to confidentiality issues.
The final project that the committee undertook was to revise and update the brochure that the committee has used in the past to advertise our services to law firms seeking to hire a law librarian. The original brochure was found in the CALL archives located at the Northern Illinois University Law Library. The basic design was then updated to mirror that of the recently updated recruitment brochure. The language and content was also updated to reflect the current environment and services that the committee offers. The brochure has been edited and tentatively approved by the board.
The committee hopes that these projects have provided greater service to the membership of CALL and the various constituents that we work with. The committee would also like to thank Konya Lafferty, Debbie Ginsberg, and Julie Pabarja for their assistance and insight over the past year.