CALL Government Relations Committee 2020-2021 Annual Report

Chair: Sarah Reis

 Members: Eugene Giudice, Sally Holterhoff, Joe Mitzenmacher, Mary Ellen Murphy, Sarah Walangitan

 Board Liaison: Mandy Lee

Committee Charge:

 Government Relations Committee keeps apprised of government activity pertaining to libraries and information policy by staying informed of the work of the AALL Government Relations Committee and the Government Relations Office. Shares updates with the CALL community and promotes equitable access to justice and access to information. Advocates policy interests and views of CALL on issues affecting law libraries and legal information professionals in the Chicago area, Illinois, and neighboring states.

[Note: The above committee charge reflects the revisions that were drafted by the GRC in August 2020 and approved by the Board in March 2021.]

 Meetings:

The GRC met via Zoom on August 24, 2020, to discuss revisions to the committee charge and projects/activities for 2020-21. The Chair met with the Board on December 8, 2020.

Committee Accomplishments:

  • Published the second edition of Finding Illinois Law, which is available on the CALL website here: https://chicagolawlib.org/finding-illinois-law/. The PDF version of both the second edition (2021) and the first edition (2012) will also soon be available on HeinOnline. Coordinated with the Public Relations Committee to publicize and promote the guide. The GRC is working on creating a dynamic web version of the guide to increase accessibility. The web version project will be continued into the new CALL year.
  • Compiled an updated list of law libraries in the Chicago area to replace the list that was formerly available on the website for the D’Angelo Law Library at the University of Chicago. This directory will be posted on the CALL website and maintained by the GRC going forward. Posting of the directory is pending due to a possible future reorganization of the CALL website.
  • Kept apprised of legislative developments and government activity affecting libraries from the AALL Government Relations Committee to inform the CALL community about advocacy opportunities. For example, brought the opportunity to sign on to a letter written by Mike Lissner, Executive Director of Free Law Project, to advocate for PACER RSS feeds from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to the CALL Board’s attention. The CALL Board agreed to sign on to the letter.