Yes Libraries are Shrinking Now What?

Two weeks ago American Lawyer Media released it’s 2016 library survey with the unfortunate headline “Downsizing continues at  law firm libraries.”  The headline is problematic for two reasons: 1. Shrinking libraries are old news and 2. Information professionals are driving some of the most important new technologies into the practice of law….

Today American Lawyer posted an article about what the author described as a “growing trend in law library outsourcing.”  Nuance doesn’t grab headlines, and this article
raises more questions than it answers.  A  few key clarifications are in order.  Are law firms throwing away institutional intelligence instead of just tossing the books? Will they pay

Law Libraries Have Changed  c. Jean OGrady

Law Librarians were in law firms at least 30 years before any law firm hired a computer services technician. Law librarians have been breaking down the library walls for decades, but it was only this week that the Private Law Libraries section of AALL rebranded.

Law librarians were

Jackson Walker an Amlaw
200 firm based in Texas has promoted Greg Lambert to their roster of
C-level leaders.  Lambert  joined the firm as the Director of
Library and Research Services in 2012 and became Chief Knowledge Services Officer
in February of this year. Lambert made a name for himself as one of the
founders and writers of the award winning 

Library Week has brought us a
gift from “the land downunder.” The Australian Law Librarians’ Association
(ALLA)  and 3 other Library
organzations (The
Australian Library and InformationAssociation (ALIA), Health Libraries
Inc (HLInc),Health Libraries Australia
(HLA)) collaborated on a study
to measure the Return on Investment of Australian special libraries.The partners commissioned
award-winning firm SGS Economics

ALM
Legal Intelligence just released a white paper Finding the Right Balance: Nonattorney Law Firm Staffing Trends. ‘ (Cover title: Law firm staffing—Finding
the Optimal Mix. “)   The survey was conducted during January and February 2014. The report studies the ongoing efforts by law firms to “optimize” support staff functions and ratios.It appears that law

by Phil Rosenthal,  Guest Blogger

I’d like to think I was brilliant. More likely I was just lucky. When I started as a first-year associate at Covington & Burling more than sixteen years ago, I was very fortunate to discover the library, and to discover that it was the secret to survival as a junior


 
The Green Wall

When Squire Sanders relocated from Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, to new offices on 19th St NW, they left behind  a traditional wood paneled law firm motif and moved to a decidedly and perhaps radically modern “green” space.

The new offices received a Platinum LEED rating. It features conference tables made of concrete, glass and stone;

Crowded Collaboration c.c.

In a recent Bloomberg interview, I speculated that in the future, law  libraries may look like Apple Stores. My point was that while we may replace law books with desktop virtual libraries, the need for  spaces for  research consultation, collaboration and “just in time learning” will continue.  As I mentioned in an earlier post  on strategic