Retiring after a Career Spanning 42 Years

by Timothy Coggins & Kathleen Klepfer

Gail Zwirner, head of access services in the University of Richmond Law Library, will retire on April 3, 2015. Gail has provided exemplary reference and research assistance to the law school’s faculty, students, and other users since 1998, when she joined the law library as a reference and research services librarian.  She was promoted to a new position as head of access services, where she combined supervision and management of the circulation desk, reserves, interlibrary borrowing and lending, and other duties to her role as a reference librarian and teacher.  Since she joined the law library, Gail taught legal research in the first-year curriculum. 

Gail began her career as a librarian for law firms specializing in energy transportation.  That role took her all over the country from Washington to Alaska, Florida, Kansas, and Pennsylvania before returning to D.C. An opportunity to join Hunton & Williams as a librarian brought her, along with her late husband who also worked in the energy business, to Richmond. After 25 years as a librarian in several law firms, Gail decided that it was time to join the academic law library world, and her Richmond law library colleagues are very happy that she made that decision. 
 
Professionally, Gail’s service is extensive.  She was, and continues to be, an incredible contributor to VALL, including her service as president of the chapter.  Gail is also on the board of the Richmond Public Library and has been a member of numerous library association committees. She developed and manages a relationship between law librarians and the editor of Virginia Lawyer to publish at least one article about legal research or a related topic in every issue of the Virginia Lawyer.  She played an instrumental role in the creation of the Virginia Administrative Code when she worked with attorneys, law librarians and others to persuade the General Assembly that Virginia needed a codified version of its administrative rules and regulations.  Gail’s knowledge of Virginia primary and secondary law publications is unsurpassed. She serves as the general editor of Virginia CLE’s Guide to Legal Research in Virginia, the most comprehensive resource published about Virginia legal research, and she authored several chapters in the most recent edition of that research guide.
 
Associate Dean for Library and Information Services Timothy L. Coggins stated recently, “Gail’s retirement leaves a real void at the law library.  She’s been phenomenal, serving as an important advisor, mentor and friend to faculty, students, librarians and others here and making so many valuable contributions to the law library and its users over the years.  We will miss her tremendously.”

After retirement, Gail will continue, not surprisingly, to serve libraries and their users.  She’s a member of the Richmond Public Library Board and will become chair of that board in July 2015. 

Best wishes, Gail, from all your VALL colleagues.

Below are pictures from Gail's retirement party at the University of Richmond Law Library on 

March 31, 2015.

 

 

VALL Board 2015 - 2016

Patty Petroccione

Vice President/President Elect: 

Patricia Peroccione (Walter T. McCarthy Law Library). 

Patty received her J.D. from George Washington University, her MSLIS from Catholic University and her B.A. in sociology and German from the State University of New York at Albany.

 In the early 1980s, she was the director of the law library at Sidley & Austin in Washington D.C. Then for five years, she practiced law with the Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. She has been in her current position since 2000.

In addition to her membership in VALL, Patty is a member of AALL, its State Court and County Law Libraries special interest section, a member of the Self Represented Litigants Network Law Librarians’ Group, and LLSDC. She was VALL Treasurer from 2010 – 2012 and is the committee chair of VALL’s Access to Justice Committee.  She is also a member of the Virginia Access to Justice Commission’s Committee on Access for Self-represented Litigants.

Patty is glad that through the library she is able to serve the public and believes it is important to assist self-represented litigants. She is concerned that often it is a struggle for non-lawyers to navigate the justice system. She hopes through the work of VALL and other organizations, more open access to justice will be available to all who interact with the legal system.

Outside of the library, Patty has been active in the Arlington County Public School system through various volunteer positions on PTAs, including president, and a position as co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Instruction which reports to the School Board. She enjoys wine-tasting with her husband, especially on recent trips to Napa County, California and the Willamette Valley, Oregon. And of course all the Virginia wineries. Reading and yoga are favorite relaxing pastimes, and watching the Food Network is a guilty pleasure!

 

Alison Hancock

Treasurer:

Alison Hancock (Williams Mullen).

Alison began her career in libraries as a volunteer at the Richmond Public Library in 2008.   

Since then she has obtained her MLIS from the Catholic University of America, worked as a paraprofessional at the University of Richmond Law Library, and is now employed as a librarian at Williams Mullen’s Richmond office.

Alison who is from Pennsylvania received her B.A. in English and Art History from the College of William & Mary.

In her spare time she plays bass in two bands, hangs out with her neurotic dogs (Pickles and Guinness), and hatches travel plans.  Her most recent adventure was camping in Death Valley.

 

 

Meldon Jenkins-Jones

Director:

Meldon Jenkins-Jones (Richmond Public Law Library).

Meldon is a native of New York City, and her career has spanned both the legal and information studies fields.

Her legal career began while working in the Mayor’s Policy and Development Office in Newark, NJ. She then practiced in Landlord-Tenant Court while employed at the Newark Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Meldon gained invaluable training and experience as the second female African American Assistant Prosecutor for Essex County, New Jersey.

After a brief stint as the Director of Intergovernmental and Congressional Affairs, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Region 2, Meldon opened her own solo law office where she maintained a general practice from July 1981 through 2003 when she retired.

Meldon's work activities at RPL has included time as the Interim Community Services Manager for the West End Branch. She has also initiated two Writers Groups, one of which—the Main Writers Group—she still facilitates, and a literacy program for African American male teens called Black Male Emergent Readers (BMER).

In 2013, Meldon initiated the Community Law Series of classes for the general public on such topics as Estate Planning, Teen Empowerment, Starting a Business, and Workers’ Compensation. BMER and the Community Law classes have earned Meldon recognition from the City of Richmond—a Tri-annual Rise! Achievement Award and a 2014 Annual Mayor Award. Meldon also earned a Certificate of Completion of the City’s Aspire Career Development Series.

Meldon is an active member of the Virginia Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries—where she is a member of the Diversity Committee as well as the Black Caucus, and a contributor to the AALL Spectrum online Blog—and the Virginia Association of Law Libraries where she is a member of the Access to Justice Committee. She is also a member of the American Library Association.

Meldon completed her Bachelor's degree at Smith College, where she majored in Russian Civilization. She went on to graduate from Rutgers University School of Law – Newark with a J.D.

Meldon received her Masters degree at the Florida State University School of Library and Information Studies. 

Meldon’s greatest interests are her two children--Meldon and Alexander—and three grandchildren. (Meldon’s husband of 28 years, Rayford passed away in July 2014.) Her daughter Mel is currently pursuing her M.A. in Journalism and Public Affairs at American University and her son Alex is in law enforcement. In her spare time, Meldon also enjoys writing and traveling and has visited Poland, Russia, Canada, and a few Caribbean islands.

Meldon is looking forward to working with the leadership of VALL, promoting the law library profession in general and the activities of VALL, while learning more about law librarianship and serving the Association and its members.

Virginia Reports

To date, the last bound volume published was 286 Virginia (distributed in June 2014) and the last advance sheet published was vol. 288 No. 1 (distributed in October 2014). This means there has been a delay in producing bound volume 287 of the Virginia Reports and the advance sheets for the September 2014 and November 2014 sessions of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

In early September 2014, the Supreme Court of Virginia learned that Darby Printing Company (Atlanta, GA), the printing company that had produced the court’s reports for several decades, along with publications for many other governmental bodies and law reviews, had gone into liquidation. Very shortly thereafter, the Purchasing Department of the Office of the Executive Secretary (state court administrator's office) scrambled to prepare an emergency procurement for the printing of advance sheets for the June 2014 session -- thus the delay in the receipt of the advance sheet 1 for volume 288. In late 2014, a second emergency procurement was issued for the production of the second advance sheet for volume 288, which will include cases from the September 2014 session.

An RFP for the "Publication of the Virginia Reports of the Supreme Court of Virginia" was issued on November 21, 2014; this RFP covers the annual production of Reports and advance sheets. A mandatory pre-proposal conference was held on December 16, 2014 and all interested vendors must submit their proposals by February 6th. Hopefully, a vendor will be selected by the beginning of March and production on the next bound volume of Virginia Reports (volume 287) will begin ASAP.

If you have any questions about this, please don't hesitate to contact me. Although I might not have the answer to your question, I can easily check with the OES Purchasing Department for more information.

Submitted by Gail Warren.

VLA-VALL Joint Meeting 2015

A joint meeting with VLA and VALL will be held October 21-23, 2015 at the Richmond Marriott.

 

Program submissions are now open!  Please consider submitting a program idea for the joint meeting.  It is a wonderful opportunity to learn from our VLA colleagues and also share our experience in law libraries.  Proposals will be accepted until April 15, 2015.  Please use the link below to submit.

https://vla.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=form_185506

Stephanie Miller will share information about the meeting as it becomes available.

VALL Strategic Plan (Proposed)

On behalf of the VALL Strategic Planning Committee, please find attached the draft Strategic Plan for VALL that has been proposed by the committee to the Executive Board.  This plan was prepared after a process that included a VALL member survey; the development of a mission statement for VALL; an environmental scan; a strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) assessment; and various meetings, discussions, and revisions by the committee.

The Executive Board wishes to provide VALL members with an opportunity to review and comment on the Strategic Plan before the Board considers the plan for adoption.  If you have any comments on the plan, please send them to me via email at andrew.m.winston@gmail.com, and please copy President Ben Almoite at BAlmoite@courts.state.va.us. Please send any comments by Friday, February 20, 2015.

Click here to view the plan:Strategic Plan

In and Around VALL

Congratulations to Suzanne Corriell who will start a new position as associate circuit librarian for the 4th Circuit in Richmond on Feb. 9! Suzanne who is associate director for reference, research and instructional services for the University of Richmond Law Library, will leave her position on Feb. 6th.

However, she will continue to teach 1L legal research for the rest of the semester. In her new role she will be assisting with the oversight of the daily operations of all library locations, including the supervision of library staff, budget development, collection management, managing library facilities and training library users.

We wish Suzanne well in her new position and look forward to seeing her at VALL activities!

Good luck to Carol Goodman who retired from Troutman Sanders in December 2014! We wish her the best and hope that she is enjoying her retirement.

VLA Council Meeting, Jan. 9, 2015

From Suzanne Corriell (standing in for Terry Long)

 

The dates listed in the agenda MAY change, but notice about that will be given in the next 2 weeks.
 
The 2014 End-of-Year finances are on the vla.org site, under the Calendar link.  The fall conference brought in 136k – “tremendous.”  Membership is a little bit lower.  The 2015 budget should reflect that the website and the new MemberClicks platform will save effort and money on bank fees.
 
Instead of covering forms on the website, Lisa will be sending out webinars to cover the information that she traditionally covers at the January meeting.
 
The Executive Committee has been carefully examining the committee structures and attempting to better coordinate cost-effective communications.  Virginia Libraries is rethinking how it publishes, and is moving toward 1 “robust” issue each year (starting with this month’s peer-reviewed issue).  There will be an ad hoc website committee that examines communications.  Several committees were dissolved: Multicultural Forum is now Diversity and Inclusion; Professional Endowment is now Fundraising/Development; Public Libraries Forum and Communication & Technology are dissolved.  They’re looking for chairs for Intellectual Freedom, Website, Membership, and Public Services.  They’re moving toward quarterly distribution of volunteers.
 
The Legislative Agenda (now called the Legislative Program) is available on the website.  The goal this year is to sustain funding, not increase it.  We were reminded to respond to calls for advocacy, since legislators pay attention to constituents.  
 
Professional Associates Forum – moving toward a 1-day conference to cut costs for attendees.
 
They’re looking to improve the quality of presentations and will be offering a Presentation Academy pilot this year for additional training for presenters, plus adding a presentation coordinator.  The 2015 theme is Libraries @ the Center, and the keynote speakers are Lydia Netzer and Kira Brown.  [not sure about that last name.]  
 
Call for awards will be coming soon.
 
For the Designated Agenda – it’s online, but the focus is on communications and conferences.