Happy Retirement to Jim Heller!

submitted by Linda Tesar, 

Interim Director/Head of Technical Services & Special Collections

Long-time VALL member Jim Heller officially retired on June 25, 2019 after more than 30 years as library director and professor of law at William & Mary Law School.

Jim at a retirement luncheon with his staff, looking through a scrapbook put together by staff - a law library tradition.

After earning his J.D. at the University of San Diego and his M.L.S. at U.C. Berkeley, Jim began his career as associate law librarian, head of reader services at the Jacob Burns Law Library, George Washington University National Law Center. He followed that position with short stints as director of the Dept. of Justice, Civil Division Library and director of the University of Idaho Law Library before moving to William & Mary in 1988.

Never one to sit on the sidelines, Jim built an enviable resume of organizational participation at every level of law librarianship. He served as president of VALL (1994/1995), SEAALL (1996/1997) and AALL (1998/1999), as well as chair of the Northwest Consortium of Law Libraries (1987/1988). He also participated in at least 20 different committees in those four organizations, leading as chair 18 times, including four times as chair of the AALL Copyright Committee.

Jim was equally prolific as a writer and speaker. At AALL meetings, Jim made 11 presentations over the years and coordinated or moderated 10 times. He spoke 12 times at SEAALL conferences and six times at VALL. He also presented more than 60 times at a variety of conferences and events including the meetings of the American Library Association, the British and Irish Association of Law Libraries, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries, the Medical Library Association, and the Virginia Library Association. 

Jim complemented this long list of speaking engagements with a list of publications nearly as long. In the course of his career, he published three books – including two editions of The Librarian’s Copyright Companion – three book chapters, 24 articles and more than 40 book reviews.

Even with all of this activity, Jim saved his best for William & Mary. Under his leadership, the law library consistently ranked as the best law school department in student surveys. From 2003 to 2007 Jim created one of the most popular spaces in the law school when he served as project manager and driving force behind the library’s renovation and addition. Throughout his tenure, he oversaw multiple initiatives to improve library services and strengthen the reputation of William & Mary Law School.

Jim’s legacy of innovations expanded beyond traditional library walls to include teaching (Legal Research, Law & Public Policy and Law & Literature), leading an early adoption of an institutional repository, the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository, and recreating George Wythe’s library and developing its companion piece, Wythepedia. Shortly before he retired, Jim spearheaded the development of a timeline display of the law school’s history (now hanging in the library) and the launch of its digital twin.

Jim enters retirement joyfully planning attendance at blues festivals and travels with his wife, Janet, who retired from her position as assistant library director of Williamsburg Regional Library on June 28^th.

VALL members have a couple of opportunities to see Jim and wish him well in his retirement. Jim and his band, Winslow Ridge, will be playing at Cogan’s Deli & Sports Pub in Williamsburg on July 12^th. For those of you attending this year’s conference in D.C., the band will also be playing at Madam’s Organ in Adam’s Morgan on Saturday, July 13^th,  from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. And on Tuesday, July 16^th, at the Association Luncheon, Jim will be awarded the highest honor AALL can bestow, the Marion Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award.

In a W&M law school tradition, Jim leaves his last class to applause from students, faculty and staff

Cheers to Jim! Best wishes for a very long and very happy retirement!

President's Message: Farewell

Hello VALL members,

My term as President seemed to fly by.  I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you some of the highlights from our recent Spring Meeting, and to express some well-deserved VALL gratitude.

Spring Meeting

The meeting was held at the offices of Hunton Andrews Kurth in Richmond on May 3, 2019.  This proved to be an excellent venue for our association to meet, as it allowed us to take advantage of the firm’s conference facilities on the twentieth floor, with its sweeping views of the city and the river.  Doug Granger, the managing partner of Hunton’s Richmond office, opened our day with a warm welcome. 

The first educational session at the meeting was A Leopard CAN Change its Spots, co-presented by Suzanne Corriell and Megan Scanlon.  This was an interactive experience, in which the members in attendance worked together in groups to tackle one of our biggest challenges:  how we can guide users to newer technologies, resources, and work processes.  After working collaboratively on selected issues in our groups, we reconvened, and a spokesperson for each group presented the proposed strategies the group had developed for its assigned topics.  These topics included:

·         “Ol’ Faithful” – How do we help veteran patrons move beyond their familiar resources?

·         “The Paperless Office” – How does the law library help implement a management directive to go paperless by 2025?

·         “Partner in Crime” – How do we leverage vendor relationships to ensure adequate training on library resources?

·         “Better Balance” – How do we encourage newer attorneys to use current versions of codes available in research databases?

·         “The Missing Pieces” – How do we help users get more out of resources that they believe they “already know”?

·         “Win or Lose” – How can we enable users and colleagues who reflexively say no to new ideas to explore more positive approaches?

To capture the knowledge created and shared, Megan and Suzanne compiled a summary of the strategies devised by the small groups on all of these topics, which Chris Vassey circulated afterward.

For our next educational program, Scott Kimpel, a partner in Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Washington, D.C. office, provided a briefing entitled How Blockchain Technology is Revolutionizing Business and the Law.  Scott explained that blockchain is a type of ledger, but a distributed, decentralized one.  He described Bitcoin, one of the most well-known blockchain applications, and provided other examples of how blockchain technology can be used for supply chain management, home equity loans, and tracking insurance policies and claims.  Scott provided an overview of the emerging body of federal and state laws and regulationsregulations on blockchain.  Federal agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodities and Futures Trading Commission, and Federal Trade Commission, as well as state regulators like the New York Department of Financial Services, have all taken an interest in cryptocurrencies that use blockchain.  Some states, such as Wyoming, are modifying their laws to enable the use of blockchain technology for digital business.  He also recommended resources for researching and staying current on blockchain regulation.

Our last educational session was Build Your Brand with Social Media, presented by Sameena Kluck, Vice President of Business Development at Paladin.  She gave an excellent course on personal branding using social media.  She provided a wealth of advice on how to get the most out of LinkedIn.  She recommended, among other things, not writing your LinkedIn bio as if it were a resume.  Instead, think about what elements of your experience you want to highlight and convey to the reader of your LinkedIn page.  Sameena also shared her insights on how to be an effective Twitter user and how to tweet in a way that is professional and also congruent with your personality.

At our business meeting, I was delighted to welcome our new President, Chris Vassey, our new Treasurer, Alexis Sharp, and our new Director, Anna Price.  Continuing in their leadership roles are Secretary Megan Scanlon and Director Liz Schiller.  We also received reports from outgoing Treasurer David Knight and from committee chairs.  Additionally, the members voted to award Terry Long a Lifetime Membership in VALL in light of her retirement after years of dedicated service to VALL and to our profession.

Jane Harrison, Frosty Owen, and Alexis Sharp led tours of The Library, the library space in Hunton’s Richmond office that has been repurposed into a dynamic location for collaborative work, as well as a place for gathering with colleagues.  This was an opportunity that many of those in attendance had been looking forward to since VALL’s 2018 Fall meeting, at which Alexis previewed the renovated space.

Our 2019 Spring Meeting built on the themes of innovation and building a personal brand and offered the usual opportunities to reconnect with VALL members from across the state.  It was a great success, and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at VALL’s 2019 Fall Meeting—and at the AALL Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. in just a few weeks!

Thank You

Now that my term as President has finished, I would like to take a moment to thank the members of VALL for being committed to our chapter.  It was great seeing those who could make it to the Fall and Spring Meetings.  I am grateful for your enthusiasm and participation at our meetings, on committees, and in the countless ways you make VALL a unique organization.

To my fellow Executive Board members – thank you for your diligent work and support over this past year.  I am especially grateful to past Presidents Lara Dresser and Patty Petroccione for their advice and guidance—it was invaluable.

I am excited about the coming year and I know that with Chris’ leadership VALL will continue to shine.  I look forward to seeing what the future holds for us!

Andrew 

VALL Grants Recipients

Congratulations to the following for being awarded grants:

VALL/AALL Grant: Ashley Vavra (Virginia Supreme Court)

AALL Chapter Registration Grant: Molly Lentz-Meyer (University of Richmond Law Library)

Barbara Cumming Grant: Megan Scanlon (Williams Mullen)

We look forward to reading their articles on VALLTalk in the very near future!

Spotlight: Molly Lentz-Meyer

Name: Molly Lentz-Meyer     

Organization: University of Richmond Law School

Title: Digital and Archival Collections Librarian

What is your favorite moment of your career so far? 

Helping a struggling student who genuinely wanted to succeed at legal research.

What is something you would want people to know about you (hobbies, interests, passions, etc.)? 

I love to cook.

What is a guilty pleasure you cannot live without? 

I don’t believe in guilty pleasures.

If Hollywood made a movie of your life; who would you like to see play the lead role as you?

Kate Winslett (or Saoirse Ronan).

Who would you most like to sit next to on a 10 hour flight and why?

My dad, I miss him.

If you could be an Olympic athlete, in what sport would you compete and why?

Diving or speed skating – they look like the most fun.

Moving On

Congratulations to Ben Almoite who started with McGuireWoods on May 6 as the technical services librarian in the Richmond office. Ben was previously with the Henrico County Public Library.

Congratulations to Anna Price who will begin her new job as a librarian with the Law Library of Congress on May 28! Anna will be leaving the Alexandria Law Library where she is currently library operations supervisor.

April Statistics

There were 787 pageviews of VALLTalk in April! Thank you to all those who have stopped by.

VALL Spring Meeting May 3rd 2019

About thirty-five VALL members gathered at the Riverfront Plaza office of Hunton Andrews Kurth to attend VALL's spring meeting and installation of officers.

Jane Baugh from Woods Rogers checking in at the registration desk.

Doris Morgan and Victoria Levy from McGuireWoods walked across the street to attend.

Douglas Granger, managing partner at Hunton Andrews' Richmond office, welcomed members and observed that while libraries had changed physically, there would always be the need for resources and data, and that libraries would still fulfill those needs.

Programming Chair and Vice President/President Elect, Chris Vassey.

Outgoing President Andrew Winston thanking Jane Harrison and other program committee members for a job well done.

VP/PE Chris Vassey thanking President Andrew Winston for his service to VALL.

The newly installed board members L-R: Anna Price (director), Alexis Sharp (treasurer), Chris Vassey (president), Jane Harrison (vice president/president elect), with Megan Scanlon (secretary) and Andrew Winston (immediate past president). Not in picture; Liz Schiller (director) and Evelyn Campbell (ex officio).

Terry Long who recently retired from the Virginia State Law Library was awarded a lifetime membership to VALL for her decades of service to the association.

VALL members enjoying a continental breakfast while waiting for the programs to start.

State Law Librarian Gail Warren participating in  the program A Leopard Can Change Its Spots which was a group discussion put together by Suzanne Corriell from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Megan Scanlon from Williams Mullen. Participants discussed how to successfully help veteran library users evolve.

Scott Kimpel from Hunton Andrews' Washington DC office, spoke to VALLers about blockchain and distributed-ledger technology in a program called How Blockchain Technology is Revolutionizing Business and the Law.

Sameena Kluck, vice president of business development at Paladin gave attendees useful tips on how to fully utilize their LinkedIn and Twitter accounts in Build Your Brand with Social Media.

VALL members were also given a tour of what used to be the library on the 12th floor of Hunton Andrews but which is now what Mr. Granger referred to as "collaborative work space" of charming sitting areas and mini conference rooms ... nary a book in sight.

A cozy corner in which to strategize.

The iconic staircase is still there! But where is the wig? Alexis assured us that it is safe in storage.

To give folks some perspective ... this is what the area looked like in 2014 (photo submitted by Michele Gernhardt)

Ashley Vavra from the State Law Library taking a closer look at the view and the staircase.

Yes, there is even a coffer bar which may also serve other beverages ... there may or may not have been a tap of sorts ...