CALL convened on November 18, 2021 at noon via Zoom for our November Business Meeting. There were 54 registrants for this meeting. President Jamie Sommer opened the meeting and thanked Lexis for sponsoring the door prizes before handing it over to Vice President Scott Vanderlin, who introduced our speaker, Dean Rhea Ballard-Thrower.
Speaker
Dean Ballard-Thrower was recently named the University Librarian at the University of Illinois Chicago. She was previously the Executive Director of the Howard University Libraries and a tenured professor at the Howard University School of Law. She has also served as Director of the Howard University Law Library, Associate Director of the Georgia State University Law Library, and as a reference librarian for the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas-Austin. Continue reading November Business Meeting – Rhea Ballard-Throwe→
I manage three full-time faculty support specialists, run the institutional repository, provide Blackboard assistance, and teach advanced Word skills and other technology-related topics.
Where did you grow up, and where else have you lived before coming to Chicago? Do you have a favorite among those places?
My favorite place among the places I have lived is Pittsburgh, where I lived most of my life. I went to college in Johnstown, Pa., and worked in New York City for a year. In addition, I spent a semester in London. Continue reading New Member Profile: Julie Tedjeske Crane→
The notion and concepts of adaptive leadership inspired me last year during the darkest times of the pandemic. Shortly after beginning my new position with the Seventh Circuit, I attended a judiciary seminar on the topic.
It was informed by the framework of adaptive leadership developed by Harvard business scholars, Marty Linsky and Ronald Heifetz, in a pre-pandemic world to manage change and often unanticipated changes in the workplace.[1]Continue reading Adaptive Leadership During Volatile Times→
The Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) is Chicago’s food bank and partners with over 700 local agencies and food assistance programs, including pantries, soup kitchens and shelters for children, older adults and veterans to fight hunger.
They rely on volunteers to repackage bulk amounts of food into smaller, shareable quantities that can be distributed throughout the Chicagoland area and Cook County.
This summer, thanks to a CALL grant, I was able to take Law Books: History & Connoisseurship, a course held through the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.
The course, which was held remotely, took place from August 1-6 and was team taught by Mike Widener, recently retired from the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School, and Ryan Greenwood, of the University of Minnesota Law Library.
The curriculum covered the canon of historical law books, as well as the history of the trade in Europe, America, and Latin America. The course was framed with a view to collection development: assignments required me to think strategically about how I would like to curate a collection, and a rare bookseller was invited as a guest speaker to offer insight into the current market. Continue reading Grantee Report: Law Books: History &; Connoisseurship Rare Books School→
Thanks to a generous grant from CALL, I was able to attend the virtual AALL Management Institute in March 2021 The Management Institute is a two-day immersion which ambitiously aims to prepare “managers to thrive in uncertainty, confidently navigate conflict, and build commitment to strategic goals.” Continue reading Grantee Report: AALL Management Institute→
The CALL Grants and Awards Committee graciously provided me with a Grant to enroll in the AALL Introduction to Law Libraries virtual course. The course was self-paced which created flexibility in my scheduling; while I received the grant in March, I was able to take and complete the course in June after the semester and grading had ended. Additionally, the course itself was only one hour long allowing me to complete it gradually over the course of a full day, rather than being required to sit during a one hour slot. This flexibility was wonderful and allowed me to focus on work while also completing the course. Continue reading Grantee Report: AALL Introduction to Law Library Budgets Course→
In 2020-2021, the CALL Public Relations Committee had the following members: Shari Berkowitz Duff, Debbie Ginsberg, Lyonette Louis-Jacques (Chair), Sharon Nelson, and Sarah Sherman. Megan Butman served as CALL Board Liaison. Continue reading CALL Public Relations Committee 2020-2021 Annual Report→
