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LRL Newsline │ Summer 2022

July 25, 2022

Chair’s Corner

By Ingrid Hernquist, New Jersey Office of Legislative Services Library

As this will be my last Chair’s Corner article, I would like to thank everyone for selecting me to serve as an LRL officer. It has truly been an honor and wonderful experience. As I move from the role of chair into past chair, I want to thank our current past chair, Eric Glover (Idaho), for his dedication and service as an officer of LRL. I also offer congratulations to him as he will be receiving the staff achievement award this year. I look forward to supporting our new chair, Jessica Lundgren (Maine), as well as Lindsay Pealer (California) in her new role as vice chair. I would like to welcome Anthony Aycock (North Carolina) as secretary. Anthony was selected by the committee and ratified by LRL in May.

I am also happy that this year LRL will have two opportunities for in-person networking. One of the things I look forward to the most in going to these in-person events is speaking to other librarians about what they are doing in their libraries and bringing these ideas back to implement in my library. The first opportunity was the 2022 Summit held in NCSL’s hometown of Denver from Aug. 1-3. There were many interesting sessions for LRL members such as “Compelling Communication: Projecting Confidence and Credibility” and “How to Say What You Need to Say.” Tours included the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado State Capitol. There was also the traditional Dutch treat dinner. The notable document awards ceremony made a triumphant return to the Legislative Summit, after a two-year hiatus. There were 40 strong submissions from 17 different states of which 15 winners were selected. Thank you to Elizabeth Lincoln (Minnesota) for compiling and organizing all the information.

The planning for Staff Hub ATL 2022, Oct. 10-12, in Atlanta is also well underway. Sessions especially geared for LRL include “Legislative Histories” and “Professional and Legal Writing for the Public Sector.” Other interesting topics include “Case Study of a Bill from Start to Finish” and “Researching and Summarizing Legislation.” Tour of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and the Georgia Capital have also been planned.

Another upcoming activity is Base Camp, NCSL’s premier virtual training conference, from Nov. 15-16. Registration opens on Sept. 15.

Hope to see many LRL members at the Staff Hub! Thanks again for the opportunity to serve as LRL chair.

—Ingrid

Mark Your Calendars

  • Staff Hub ATL 2022: Oct. 10-12, 2022 in Atlanta
  • 2022 NCSL Base Camp: Nov. 15-16, 2022
  • 2023 LRL/RELACS PDS: Week of Sept. 19 in Minneapolis
  • 2023 NCSL Legislative Summit: Aug. 14-16 in Indianapolis
  • 2024 LRL PDS: Dates TBD, Raleigh, N.C.

LRL Staff Achievement Award Recipients Selected!

The LRL Award Selection Committee is thrilled to announce the 2022 recipients of the LRL Legislative Staff Achievement Award. A pair of familiar faces whose dedication and service to their legislatures, colleagues, LRL and NCSL is obvious and known across the nation. Endorsements written by their legislative library colleagues illustrate why they were selected:

Eric Glover, legislative librarian, Idaho (LRL immediate past chair, 2021-22)

Ingrid Hernquist, Manager, OLS Library Services in New Jersey, NCSL LRL executive committee colleague: “It has truly been a great honor to serve as an officer on the LRL Executive Committee with Eric. Eric has been a great mentor for all LRL officers. He has been organized and enthusiastic. During the time of the pandemic when I was working remotely, I would look forward to our monthly meetings as Eric would be optimistic and enthusiastic about LRL continuing to provide services and promote professional development to other LRL members. It truly has been a pleasure working with Eric.”

Teresa Wilt, Legislative Librarian in Nevada NCSL LRL executive committee colleague: “I'm sure Eric is valued by his coworkers in Idaho, but he has been a wonderful resource for LRL, too. His humor and practical approach during our officers' meetings were very much appreciated (and helpful!), especially when we were trying to figure out how to navigate LRL business during the height of the pandemic. It was an honor and a privilege to work with Eric.”

Jessica Lundgren, Senior Law Librarian in Maine NCSL LRL executive committee colleague: “I enthusiastically support Eric Glover’s nomination for the 2022 Staff Achievement Award. Finishing his fourth year as an officer of the LRL Executive Committee, Eric is a dedicated and talented leader of our staff association. He’s a passionate and knowledgeable librarian, who has great ideas for making things work better.”

Teresa Wilt, deputy research director, Nevada (former LRL chair, 2019-20)

Ingrid Hernquist, Manager, OLS Library Services and NCSL LRL executive committee colleague: “It was an honor to serve as Secretary and Vice Chair on the LRL Staff Association Officer’s Committee at the same time that Teresa was serving as Chair and Past Chair. She was an inspiring mentor for me as well as the other officers. She gave me a good understanding about serving on the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee (LSCC) which is very confusing as a new member. Teresa was respected and very well-liked by members of other staff associations as well as LRL. It is with great pleasure that I support her nomination.”

Jessica Lundgren, Senior Law Librarian in Maine NCSL LRL executive committee colleague: “I enthusiastically support Teresa Wilt’s nomination for the 2022 Staff Achievement Award. Getting to know and work with Teresa is a big reason why I’m involved with LRL. She is generous in giving her time, attention, and advice, which was especially valuable to me as a new legislative librarian. Her positivity and commitment to her colleagues and profession are inspiring.”

Eric Glover, legislative librarian, Research & Legislation Division, Idaho Legislative Services Office: “I am honored to support Teresa Wilt’s nomination for the 2022 NCSL Staff Achievement Award. As many of you know, Teresa is a former LRL Regional Director (2016-2018) and Officer of the LRL Executive Committee (2017-2021). She stepped into the leadership role as Chair of the Executive Committee during Covid-19, knowing the pandemic would be trying but also embracing her duty to guide the association through difficult and unknown territory. I have always appreciated Teresa’s mentorship, wisdom, support, and unselfish dedication to LRL. Teresa is an inspiration for all of us and is an example of the kind of leadership our association should celebrate.”

The NCSL executive committee thanks the 2022 Selection Committee:
Chair: Betsy Haugen, Minnesota (former LRL chair 2018-19)
Karen Mau, Hawai’i
Chrissy Heider, Arkansas

Welcome Anthony Aycock, New LRL Secretary

LRL is excited to announce and welcome our new LRL secretary for 2022-2023.

Anthony Aycock is a librarian, an English professor, and a writer: the nerdy trifecta. Since 2017, he has served as the legislative librarian for North Carolina. He has also worked in law firm, academic, and public libraries. His greatest professional achievement is helping start the Charlotte School of Law in 2006. This is also his biggest embarrassment, as the school went bust eleven years later. Anthony is an adjunct instructor of English at Campbell University, but he won’t judge your grammar—out loud. You can read his thousands of personal essays (actually, there are about 80) on Medium. In 2013, he published a book, The Accidental Law Librarian, to little fanfare.

2022 Notable Document Award Winners!

By Elizabeth Lincoln, Notable Document Award Selection Committee Chair, Minnesota

LRL is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 Notable Document Awards!  Fifteen documents were chosen in 10 categories from 40 total entries submitted by 17 states. My fellow judges—Ingrid Hernquist (New Jersey), Jenna Steward (Louisiana), Stephanie Heyroth Wilcox (Nevada), and Laura Bell (Minnesota)—and I were particularly impressed by two of the nominations submitted this year.

Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee’s large wall poster—Budget Universe—uses 16 solar systems to depict state spending, federal funding, and employment by agency in a beautiful and clear graphic representation.

West Virginia Legislature's Joint Committee on Government and Finance undertook a large project to digitize the  Official Code of West Virginia 1931, Enrolled Bills, and Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia. Print and online versions of the code are not authoritative because the statutory law of West Virginia is a patchwork of the 1931 Code combined with the enrolled bills of the Legislature. This effort provides everyone access to the authoritative materials.

Look through all 15 2022 Notable Document Awards winners for any standout documents from your state, and to learn more about what's happening in state governments around the country.

Colorado’s Renovated Legislative Resource Center and New Resource Center Lead

A few lucky LRL members had the opportunity to tour the Colorado State Capitol during the 2022 Legislative Summit in Denver. The final stop of the tour was the newly renovated Legislative Resource Center and a chance to hear from and talk with the new Resource Center Lead Amanda King. Here’s a quick history of the Resource Center and a little bit about Amanda:

The Colorado Joint Legislative Library began in 1954 with a single bookshelf and a few boxes of materials kept in a staff member's office. When the Colorado Supreme Court and its library moved out of the Capitol in 1976, the library moved to the west side of the Capitol basement, acquired used bookshelves, and began collecting donated books and materials from several legislative offices and state agencies. From that point, the library has continued to grow and transform.

The Joint Legislative Library has had three major renovations in its current location. The most recent one was completed in 2021. A key renovation goal was to restore the space to the Capitol’s “Period of Significance,” which was established as 1904, when the Capitol Dome was first gilded with gold. During the recent renovation, the original marble flooring was uncovered and the columns and newly revealed high ceilings were painted colors original to the historic era. Additionally, sections of plaster crown molding were recreated to replace damaged and missing sections, and wood detailing was added to match the other areas of the Capitol. After the 2021 renovation, much of the library’s collection was distributed to other libraries and the space was rebranded as the Legislative Resource Center.

The Legislative Resource Center focuses on providing information specific to the Colorado General Assembly and includes the:

  • Legislative Library, which provides nonpartisan library services and legislative resources to members of the General Assembly and their staffs, legislative service agencies, other government agencies, and members of the public,
  • Legislator History Information Database, which is an online database of past and present state legislators,
  • Statutory Reports Database, which includes reports state departments and agencies are required to submit to the Legislative Council Staff for distribution to the appropriate legislative recipients and for posting online.

Amanda King is the Legislative Resource Center lead. She has worked for the Colorado General Assembly for 20 years in a variety of roles, including legislative editor in the Office of Legislative Legal Services and senior research analyst in the Legislative Council Staff. She has staffed several legislative committees, produced numerous legislative documents, and assisted Colorado’s redistricting commissions. Before moving to Colorado, she worked as a legislative aide for the Nebraska Unicameral. She graduated from Simpson College in Iowa, with a B.A. in political science and communication studies.

While Amanda does not have formal training as a librarian, she possesses a passion for books, the legislative process, and customer service. She uses this passion and her legislative knowledge and experience to assist legislators and the public with legislative research in her role as the Legislative Resource Center Lead. She is excited to continue to develop the Legislative Resource Center’s role in preserving the history of the General Assembly and providing assistance to those in need of legislative research and documents.

LRL @ Staff Hub ATL 2022

LRL will be joining with five of the other professional staff associations to CREATE, CONNECT COLLABORATE with one another at a first of its kind, joint professional development seminar! The purpose of this meeting is to foster cross-pollination and shared learning between and increase synergy among the participating associations. LRL members can look forward to a slate of sessions covering soft and hard skills tailored specifically for the legislative environment. Topics range from “Legislative Histories”, Researching and Summarizing Legislation, Maintaining Objectivity/ Staying Neutral to Legislative Mentoring Programs, Retaining, Motivating and Engaging Staff. Punctuated by keynotes and general sessions led by the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history, former chief of staff, Senator and NCSL President, Toi Hutchinson and Leading Edge Coaching.

But Wait! There’s More! LRL will also be offering a member only, tour of the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum directly following the close of Staff Hub ATL 2022 from 1-4 p.m. Oct. 12.

For questions or more information reach out to LRL liaison Megan McClure.

Library Questions

For this issue of Newsline we asked you about Interns:

Do you have interns in your library/office?

  • Who handles recruitment & HR duties for the interns?
  • Do you have special projects they work on while with your office? (can you provide examples of projects you’ve had interns work on in the past?)
  • What are the pros and cons you’ve experiences when working with interns in the legislative environment?
  • If you don’t have interns, why?

View the responses we received.

Young and New Professionals Group

Are you new to the legislative environment? The mission of the NCSL Young and New Professionals is to engage, educate, and support the state legislative leaders of tomorrow through targeted professional development, networking opportunities and recognition. Through professional development programming virtually and in person along with the YNP Newsletter, released twice a year. Coming next month, the YNP Time Management Webinar Series, taught by University of Texas Austin faculty with the Center for Professional Education. This year YNP will be at the 2022 NCSL Legislative Summit with two exciting sessions and a networking reception.

Resources for Staff Trainings

Introducing the new NCSL Legislative Video Resources Center!

  • The Video Resource Center is a collection of recorded NCSL webinars accessible for on-demand learning.
  • More than 150 videos are curated by Policy and Professional Development categories.
  • Webinars produced by Professional Staff Associations or the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee are identified with banners and can be found by category or the site’s search field.
  • Each video includes links to additional resources, such as bill databases, policy reports or the Professional Staff Association pages.
  • The VRC is accessible to all users. NCSL members are asked to log in to their NCSL account. Using the same username and password used to register for NCSL events.

Learn more by visiting videos.ncsl.org

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