LRL Newsline │ Winter 2021

Chair's Corner

By Ingrid Hernquist, New Jersey Office of Legislative Services Library

Welcome to the Winter 2021 issue of Newsline. I want to thank LRL members for the opportunity to serve as Chair of the LRL Staff Association for the 2021-2022 term. I intend to continue the outstanding work of previous chairs I have had the honor of working with including Eric Glover (Idaho), Teresa Wilt (Nevada), and Betsy Haugen (Minnesota). I have been working at the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services Library since 1996; first as the legislative librarian and since 2017 as manager of library services. I have been actively involved with LRL since 2004 as a judge on the Notable Documents Committee. I sincerely enjoy being a part of this committee and each year look forward to reading outstanding documents geared to legislators and legislative staff. Thanks to Elizabeth Lincoln (Minnesota) who has been working for years coordinating the Notable Document Awards.

Being part of the LRL Executive Committee since 2019 has been a great honor and joy. When the pandemic hit in March 2020 and our office was informed to work remotely, the LRL officers continued to meet remotely each month. While working at home, I looked forward to these meetings as great opportunities to chat and exchange professional ideas with colleagues. As we were starting to make plans for Summit 2020 in Indianapolis, it was cancelled. It was also decided that Staff Hub ATL 2020 would be postponed to October 2022. There were no LRL in-person professional development seminars in 2020 or 2021. Nevertheless, thanks to Eric Glover’s outstanding leadership during this difficult time, the LRL staff association continued meeting remotely and was still able to provide networking and professional development opportunities to LRL members.

Another aspect of being a LRL officer that has been especially valuable is participating in the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee (LSCC) meetings. It has given me the opportunity to further understand the operations of NCSL and the various LSCC committees. Until Summit 2021 in Tampa, Fla., I attended these meetings virtually. It was a great pleasure to attend and meet other members in person.

Although only a few members of LRL were able to attend the Summit, those who did attend, participated in the Stetson Law Library Tour and the Dutch Treat Dinner at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. Future in person meetings include Staff Hub ATL in Atlanta Oct. 10-12, 2022, a joint PDS for LRL and RELACS in Minneapolis 2023, and the LRL PDS 2024 in Raleigh, N.C.

Since travel is still difficult for some members, I would like to continue to have virtual meetings as an opportunity for networking and professional development. LRL members are welcome to email me with any ideas for programs and projects.

I would also like to congratulate the 2021 LRL Legislative Staff Achievement Award recipient, Betsy Haugen (Minnesota). Betsy is a former LRL Chair and was a great mentor to work with. She was also an active participant in LSCC during her terms as Chair and Vice Chair. Thank you to LRL Liaison Megan McClure for her service. She has been extremely helpful during this unusual time in providing great ideas for virtual meetings. I would also like to thank the following LRL regional directors for their continuing assistance Christine McCluskey (Connecticut), Annette Haldeman (Maryland), Marva Coward (Florida), Nathan Elwood (Missouri), Elizabeth Lincoln (Minnesota), Joanne Vandestreek (New Mexico) and Jennifer Fletcher (Arkansas). I look forward to work with the other members of the LRL Executive Committee, Vice Chair Jessica Lundgren (Maine), Secretary Lindsay Pealer (California), and Immediate Past Chair Eric Glover (Idaho) in providing continuous service to LRL Members.

Mark Your Calendars

Happening Now! Get Ready for Session Week
Staff Hub ATL 2022: Oct. 10-12, 2022 in Atlanta, Ga.
2022 NCSL Legislative Summit: Aug. 1-3, 2022 in Denver, Colo.

Maine LLRL Librarians Pen Chapter in Book on Law Librarianship

by, Alex Burnett, Maine Law and Legislative Reference Library

In January 2020, two academic law librarians, Casandra Laskowski and Zanada Joyner announced they were editing an open access textbook and sent out a call for submissions. For anyone looking to learn more about the profession, the stated goal of the book was to discuss important issues such as accessibility, diversity, inclusion and access to justice as well as survey different law librarianship roles. In the call for submissions, the editors included a proposed table of contents covering every conceivable type of law librarian except for legislative librarians. To fill the gap, Alex Burnett and Jessica Lundgren, senior law librarians at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library, proposed a new chapter on legislative law librarianship.

Working remotely throughout most of 2020 and into 2021, Alex and Jessica worked with each other and the editors to highlight the nature of legislative libraries. They used information gathered from their professional experiences as well as an LRL email survey to discuss the unique environment of legislatures. The focus of the chapter is on the session schedule, funding, nonpartisanship, service-orientation, varieties of patrons, and relationships with legislators and other government officials. It also explores the various research specialties of legislative librarians and the types of resources that might constitute a legislative library collection. This high-level overview of legislative librarianship celebrates the role of these librarians in our society and is meant to be a primer for anyone that wants to learn about this subset of the law librarianship profession.

Published online in August, 2021, Introduction to Law Librarianship is available for free.

Base Camp Session Reports

Read short summaries of sessions of interest, written by LRL members who attended the second annual NCSL Base Camp virtual conference. Including the Legacy Knowledge Know-How session with LRL speakers, including former LRL chair, Teresa Wilt of Nevada.

Legislative Summit Impressions from a First Timer

By Elice Hubbert, Nebraska Legislative Research Office

Being a first-time attendee at the NCSL Legislative Summit, I was asked to share some of my impressions.

First, I have to say the entire experience was great and give kudos to the NCSL staff for all the work they did in putting it together. There was truly something for everyone. I picked up lots of excellent information and ideas on a variety of topics. The only downside was that it always seemed like there were multiple sessions occurring at the same time that I wanted to attend but since many of them were recorded and are available online, that turns out not to be a problem at all.

Of course, as they say, all work and no play can make things pretty dull, and the Summit provided ample opportunities to play—and work—at the same time. The social events were terrific chances to network and meet colleagues from across the country. The evening at the Florida Aquarium was delightful … lots of good food and music topped off by a gorgeous fireworks display. Additionally, I especially enjoyed getting to visit the beautiful Stetson University Law School Library with the librarians.

A couple of things did surprise me. One of them was the number of personal development and career skills building sessions that were offered. And, second, the number of attendees who were associated with businesses, industries, and organizations outside of legislatures. I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and interact with such a diverse group of participants.

Finally, the sheer number and variety of vendors and exhibitors was amazing along with all the “swag” they had to offer, including the little green foam man currently holding my cell phone.

I had a great time, learned a lot, and made many new friends. I am already looking forward to attending in Denver in 2022, and I will definitely make my hotel reservation much earlier.

Thank you NCSL!!

LRL at the 2021 Legislative Summit: Session Reports

Members of LRL who attended the 2021 Legislative Summit in Tampa, Fla., toured the local law library in Gulfport, had a Dutch Treat dinner at the 115-year-old Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City and were treated to a wide variety of sessions for legislative staff as well as world renowned general session speakers.

Library Questions

For this issue of Newsline we asked LRL members the following series of questions:

Over the last year and a half, has your patron base changed (legislators, staff, public, inmate, law offices, students, etc.)?
Has there been a decrease or increase in work (reference questions)?
If your office is working on a hybrid schedule, has/will there be training to manage a hybrid office (can you share any details/best practices)?

View the responses we received.

LRL Member News

Catch up with what's going on in legislative libraries across the nation.

Alabama Legislative Reference Service

After 39 years with the Legislative Reference Service/Legislative Services Agency, Helen Hanby will be retiring at the end of the year.

Alaska State Library

We started a Virtual Alaska Story Hour for Adults. One hour a week, we read 1-2 chapters of an Alaskan book out loud over Zoom. Folks can connect by phone or computer. While inspired by the Talking Book community (folks with visual, physical, or reading disabilities that keep them from reading traditional books), this is open to all Alaskans.

California Office of Legislative Council

One of Our OTs (office technicians), Karen Benoit, retired on Sept. 29. She had 27 years of state service. Our Capitol office is being torn down in the Capitol renovation, and over the summer we weeded and moved the library collection that was housed within our Capitol.

California Research Bureau

A couple of new staff joined us: Pixie Pearl as project manager, the California Homeless Youth Project; and, Dana Nothnagel, program coordinator, California Grants Portal. CRB staff is involved in a variety of staff-driven initiatives shaping bureau’s programs, services and direction as well as in cross-bureau initiatives of the same for the State Library.

Louisiana Poynter Library, House Chamber

Librarian Michael Smith resigned. Our new librarian is Christopher Melancon. He worked previously as a reference librarian for the Lafayette Public Library and as an attorney.

Maine State Law & Legislative Reference Library

We are in the process of launching our collection of digitized Maine AG opinions; we are also in the development stages of a new platform for the Legislator Biographical Database.

Maryland Library And Information Services

We have a lot of staffing and other news to share this time around.

Johanne Greer, longtime Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library Coordinator, retired on Oct. 29 after more than 30 years of service to the department. Johanne has been active in LRL during her career and has made numerous important contributions to the department over her career as both the library’s Coordinator and as a reference librarian. She has also served for many years as a proceedings clerk in the Maryland Senate. We thank Johanne for her dedicated service to the library, the department, and to the Maryland Senate and wish her well in retirement!

In light of Johanne’s retirement, Annette Haldeman has been promoted to the position of DLS Library Coordinator. Sandy Mueller has been promoted to Annette’s current position as the Manager of Reference Services in the library. Both stepped into their new roles on Nov. 1.

Various librarians in the library’s cataloging/indexing department welcomed new family members recently! Cataloging and Indexing Librarian Liz Kupke, her husband John, and son Nathan welcomed baby boy Otto Theodore Cade Kupke; Otto was born on Aug 1. Cataloging and Indexing Librarian Beth Coale welcomed a new grandson, Ellington Owen Coale, on Aug. 21.

As well, happy birthday wishes go to reference librarian Rich Sigwald’s son Finn, who recently turned 1 in October.

Minnesota Legislative Reference Library

Library staff continue to work remotely and despite limited access to some print materials, librarians have been particularly successful in providing legislative history research assistance to patrons while working from home. And we continue to make additions and improvements to our historical resources online (e.g. legislative retirements, capital investment and bonding bills, Legislative Manuals, redistricting 2020 guide).

Several Minnesota Legislative Reference Library staff members are participating in a legislatively mandated working group to develop a plan to move the Legislature toward full digital accessibility by 2024.

Mississippi Legislative Reference Bureau

In February of this year our office was also relocated to another building. We are now located in the Woolfolk Office Building located at 501 Northwest Street, Suite 209A, Jackson, MS 39201 instead of the New Capital Building located at 100 High Street. Our office hours and phone numbers are still the same.

Montana Legislative Reference Center

As stated in the Library Question section of this Newsline, Montana’s Legislative Reference Center has worked with Montana State Library, the Historical Society, and the Law Library to get as many materials as possible available online. Many resources that were only previously available in the Legislative Reference Center are now online. Please see the links and article below for one example. Other items now available include Senate and House Journals as listed below:

House Journals 1864-1997 are now available here.

Senate Journals 1891-1997 are now available here.

Council Journals 1866-1889 are now available here.

Montana State Law Library

Sarah McClain has left the law library for a new position within the Montana Judicial Branch. Christine Mandiloff is the new state law librarian.

Staff changes:

Deb Lund, electronic services technician, is retiring in December after almost two decades with the library.
Shane Cashin, a recent law school graduate and new attorney licensed in MT, was hired in September as the reference librarian.
Cheyanne Hafer, the administrative assistant for two years, left in August for law school in Delaware.
Sonya Amman, coming from work at a large health care provider, is the new administrative assistant.;
Christine Mandiloff was hired as the law librarian/director in June of this year, having previously worked for two years as the reference librarian.

The Law Library continues to house the Helena Self Help Law Center (SHLC). The SHLC, part of the Montana Court Help Program (a free service provided by the Montana Supreme Court to assist people with civil, non-criminal legal problems), is staffed by an AmeriCorps Member who typically volunteers for approximately one year. Also, effective this month, the law library will house the coordinator for the Court Help Program and the coordinator for the new Simplified Family Law Resolution Project (which will provide, in appropriate cases, online mediation and informal family law trials). The law library hopes the centralization of the coordinators for those projects, the SHLC, and references services will support more collaboration and grow more effective services for the public and pro se litigants.

Nebraska Research Office

Our office and library were relocated for 18 months while our space was renovated. This is part of a 12-year project to replace the entire HVAC system in the State Capitol. Needless to say it was a major task to move the library (twice). We returned to our old space in August and are enjoying fresh paint, new carpet, and a fully functioning HVAC system.

Our librarian, Travis Moore, left the Legislature to pursue other career opportunities. Elice Hubbert now serves as the librarian.

New Mexico Legislative Library

Research Assistant Moya Melody retired in June, and Emily Thomas was hired as assistant librarian that same month.

South Dakota State Library

State Librarian Daria Bossman retired in June 2021. Brenda Hemmelman, access & development services manager, is serving as interim until a new state librarian is hired.

The digitization department at the state library digitized the 41-volume set of SD Historical Collections, a series published biennially by the Department of History from 1902 to 1982 to "collect and make available historical information and encourage the study of the state’s history". This department has also digitized and placed online the entire collection of House and Senate Journals, as well as session laws. All can be accessed online.at https://sdsdl-montage.auto-graphics.com/

Oklahoma Office Of Library Resources

We have had several retirements this year and several new staff joined our library.

Tennessee Legislative Library

Tennessee is in its third Extraordinary Session of 2012; this is the first year in history with three EOS in one year.

Legislative Librarians Feel the Love!

This article, A thank you to the nation’s research librarians, The Observer, by, Devin Humphreys, came across my desk multiple times the day that it was posted in October. It was wonderful to see legislative librarians hard work and dedication recognized and in such a public way in the student run newspaper The Observer for Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross. The praise is so well deserved and is a testament to the service leadership of legislative librarians and their willingness to take the time to build bridges between citizens and their legislatures.

Winter 2021 Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee

By, Angela Andrews, NCSL

The Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee (LSCC), is a 49-member legislative staff committee that serves in an advisory capacity to NCSL’s Executive Committee. Its purpose is to coordinate the work of the nine professional staff associations of NCSL, promote professional development opportunities for legislative staff and review and evaluate NCSL’s services for staff.

The officers of LRL, currently Ingrid Hernquist (N.J.) and Jessica Lundgren (Maine) are members of the LSCC and immediate past chair of LRL, Eric Glover (Idaho), served on the LSCC from August 2020 to August 2021.

The 2020-2021 LSCC, under the direction of immediate past staff chair Martha Wigton, concluded their business at NCSL’s 2021 Legislative Summit in Tampa, Fla. Accomplishments of the 2020-2021 committee are many and below are just a few examples of the successes of this committee:

Contributed to NCSL’s understanding about how legislatures continue to operate during the pandemic with the goal of creating summaries about how some legislatures functioned.
The NCSL Legislative Video Resource Center is a new platform that houses recorded webinars and online meetings that are hosted by NCSL and the professional staff associations. This new online video archive and library will house, and highlight, all staff association programming (including all LRL programming).
Created a document that provides an overview about the role of the professional staff association officers on the LSCC. The purpose of this document is to provide clarity to those that are interested in serving as an officer of a staff association (and share more about an officer’s role on the LSCC).
Assisted in the creation of the Excel at NCSL infographic. It showcases the many opportunities through NCSL that can help you advance your career in the legislature.

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