HEARSAY News from KU’s Wheat Law Library | Fall 2019
THIS ISSUE Bluebook Relays: 30 years and counting
Library serves as space for restorative practice
A day in the life of a law library student assistant
Green Hall | 1535 W. 15th St. Lawrence, KS 66045-7608 law.ku.edu/library lawref@ku.edu
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DIRECTOR’S CORNER Welcome back to another edition of Hearsay, the newsletter of the University of Kansas School of Law Wheat Law Library. Much has happened since the publication of our spring issue. We reluctantly bid farewell this summer to our Technical Services Manager, Ellen Olker, but we are happy she can pursue opportunities closer to home in the Chicago area. Ellen was the consummate colleague throughout her years in Green Hall and leaves big shoes to fill. We look forward to introducing our new Technical Services Manager in our next newsletter. On a more somber note, we were all saddened by the passing of two longtime KU Law faculty members, George Coggins and Bill Westerbeke. These legends of Green Hall will live on in our memories and in our collections showcasing their contributions to legal education and the legal profession. In this issue, you will be introduced to our outstanding student workers, along with a brief overview of their daily contributions to the law library authored by Assistant Director Pam Crawford. Assistant Director Blake Wilson shines a light on important recent initiatives in the areas of wellness and mindfulness, which are increasingly important topics worthy of heightened awareness. Library Assistant Melissa Doebele provides historical perspective on the history of the law library with her informative article highlighting the career of Hazel Anderson. Last but not least, Circulation & Serials Manager Jeff Montgomery reminds us of the upcoming 30th annual Bluebook Relays, along with a heartfelt recollection of his return to
the relays last year after a health scare. We are all thankful that Jeff has been able to resume his role as ringmaster of this great tradition. These stalwart members of the Wheat Law Library faculty and staff are amazing in their superb dedication to excellent library services in support of the law school’s mission. Their varied contributions to the newsletter reflect their eclectic mix of expertise and interests, and I am so thankful for their efforts each and every day. As with most years, this issue of our newsletter coincides with the annual conference of the Mid-America Association of Law Libraries (MAALL). Held in St. Louis this year, the conference theme is Get in the Spirit, which is fitting on many levels. As 1Ls prepare for another spirited edition of the Bluebook Relays, the law library is once again reminded of our important role of connecting people with the information that allows them to pursue their passions in the spirit of intellectual inquiry. At this meeting, I will be passing the torch after a two-year stint as Treasurer for MAALL. I have been thankful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity and glad to learn more about all of the selfless work that goes into sustaining this wonderful organization. With MAALL once again undertaking a service project to provide numerous books to a local non-profit for underprivileged children, it is gratifying to be part of a group that does so much good for so many people. Similarly, attending this conference never fails to energize our efforts upon our return, as we bring home many new ideas and a renewed appreciation for the friendly confines of KU Law. We hope that this newsletter captures some of that enthusiasm and, until next time, we look forward to seeing you in the library! Christopher L. Steadham, JD, MLIM Wheat Law Library Director
The Wheat Law Library is an integral part of the University of Kansas School of Law, serving the law school and university community in legal and interdisciplinary scholarly pursuits and providing access to legal information for legal professionals and the general public. Want to learn more? Check out: law.ku.edu/library
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A day in the life of a law library student assistant Pam Crawford Assistant Director for Public and Technical Services In this issue of Hearsay, you are introduced to our newest student assistants. We currently employ one Technical Services and ten Public Services students. You may be wondering what this small army does when working in the law library. The current Public Services students are 2Ls, 3Ls, and an SJD. Each student works at the Circulation and Reference desks anywhere from 8 to 14 hours per week depending on their availability. Their weekday shifts are usually anytime mid-morning through the evening; Saturday and Sunday shifts are from open to close. There’s no such thing as an “average day” but the paragraphs below will give you an idea of what may go on in any given day. At the Circulation desk the students begin by being pleasant and courteous to all the library users, followed by giving directions to faculty offices, restrooms, or buildings across campus; answering phones; unjamming the staplers and the hole-punch (seriously, we need a mini-course on the proper use of staplers and hole-punches); checking out/in books, renewing books, or finding a plastic bag for people carrying books out on a rainy day; helping people print/copy, adding paper, changing toner cartridges; unpacking boxes of government documents, adding SuDoc numbers; making rounds before closing to remind those who need to leave; and whatever else comes their way during a shift. On weekends they are also responsible for opening and closing the building, turning on/off all the lights in the library, and locking the library and law school doors at closing time.
questions from callers, do their best to help all library users with their research/reference problems, and forward anything they can’t handle to one of the librarians for assistance. These students also have to be sure to explain why they can’t “just tell me what this means” or “tell me what I should do” because this would constitute the unauthorized practice of law. The students are firm without coming across as unwilling to help. We also have lists of places for legal help to which we refer people. The Technical Services student is an undergrad and works approximately 10 hours a week during the mornings or afternoons, no evenings or weekends. She assists the Technical Services staff and the Assistant Director for Public and Technical Services. Duties include shifting the collection, creating stacks signs, processing items for off-site storage, book labeling, item record creation, compiling statistics, working with special collections such as the Legal History Collection, inventory, assisting with special projects and/or displays, and the infamous “other duties as assigned.” There you have it. Our student assistants are responsible, dependable, energetic, fun to work with, and an indispensable part of the Wheat Law Library. We honestly could not manage without them!
At the Reference desk the students help 1Ls with their Lawyering worksheets, provide assistance to researchers at the public and student computers, explain how to use and update KSAs and other hardcopy legal materials to students and the public, answer reference-related Wheat Law Library | Hearsay
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30 years and counting Jeff Montgomery Circulation/Serials Departments Manager On October 25, the 30th edition of the Barber Emerson Bluebook Relays will return to Green Hall. The relays were started back in 1989 by a law student, Steven L. Passer (L’91). Initially a modest and rather decorous affair, the Relays have grown into a major law school event each fall. As the leader of this annual circus, I rely on a large team of staff and faculty volunteers. I have a rotating crew of ever changing members. Some are here every year; others have conflicts some years, but return to service; and others leave KU Law. I start trying to pin down commitments from my crew in September and early October each year. Last year, I had a heart attack three weeks before the Relays. Once I was moved out of the ICU, I began using my cell phone to organize and delegate from my hospital bed. With all my volunteers locked in, my library colleagues completed preparations for the 29th Annual Bluebook Relays. I returned to the law school for the Relays as a guest last year. I was told to sit, watch and enjoy. So, that’s what I did. I am very grateful for all the people past and present who have assisted me over all these years. There would be no 30th edition without all of them and the good folks at Barber Emerson LC. If you happen to be in Green Hall on October 25, please come and watch the madness. We welcome all of you. Pictures from past years of the Relays are depicted. Top row from left: 2014; 2013; 2015. Middle row from left: 2008; 2009; 2011. Bottom row from left: 2015; 2011; 2016.
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Hazel Anderson: Librarian extraordinaire Melissa Doebele Library Assistant If you’ve been on the main floor of the library and stopped to peruse the Kansas City Star or the Lawrence Journal World, you may have wondered about the clock that hangs above the couch and the picture of the woman underneath it. The woman is Hazel Anderson, and she was the first full-time librarian at KU Law. When classes began at “Old” Green Hall (now called Lippincott Hall) in the fall of 1905, the building had a library. Any staff were listed as “attendants” who may have just been there to monitor the reading room and check books in and out. Reports indicate that the library’s collection grew slowly in the first years of the 20th century, but it wasn’t until a full-time librarian came on board that the law library really blossomed and grew to contain a significant research collection. Hazel Anderson was hired in 1936 and was known as “Andy” to colleagues and students at the law school. While working fulltime, she also obtained her LL.B. (Juris Doctor) at KU in 1945. In the late 1940s, the library was running out of space. Books were kept in classrooms, in faculty offices, in the courtroom and stored in boxes. Andy was very adept at persuading law school deans to increase the budget for the library. Not only was there an increase in the budget, but plans were made for an expansion to accommodate the significant growth of the library’s collection. Completed in 1953, the addition had seven floors of stacks, study carrels and an office for Andy. The library was officially designated the Burdick Memorial Law Library in 1954 in honor of Dr. William L. Burdick. Even after the addition was built and the library collection continued to grow, Andy was still the only full-time library employee. She had student assistants who worked nights and weekends and may have helped out during the day, but it wasn’t until 1959 that the full-time position of Assistant Law Librarian was created. Attorneys across the state came to know Hazel Anderson as someone they could count on for excellent legal research. She taught a course called Legal Bibliography and was well liked and respected by students and faculty. Andy retired 6
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in 1967 at the age of 70. During the three decades she worked in the law library, the collection grew from about 20,000 volumes to approximately 100,000 volumes. The law library and the law school would have been a very different place without her. Hazel Anderson passed away in November 1974. Classes in the Green Hall we know now were first held in October 1977, so Andy never saw the new building or the Wheat Law Library. Hopefully, she would be proud of the past and present faculty and staff who are carrying on her legacy of dedicated law librarianship. The First District Business and Professional Women’s Club donated a clock in Hazel’s honor in 1977. The lettering reads, “In loving memory of Hazel A. Anderson for her dedication and love for the University of Kansas and its law students.” Special thanks to Joyce McCray Pearson, former director of the Wheat Law Library, whose article [A Brief History of the University of Kansas School of Law Library, 51 U. Kan. L. Rev. 873 (2003)] provided most of the research for this Hearsay piece.
Wheat Law Library: A space for restorative practice Blake Wilson Assistant Director for Instructional & Faculty Services As times and needs change within the law community, so changes the library. Where we were once only a gathering place for students to focus on their academic well-being, we have also become a place for mental and physical well-being. In August of 2017, the ABA’s National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being released its report Creating a Movement to Improve Well-Being in the Legal Profession. This report shined a spotlight on evidence that too many lawyers face mental health and substance use disorders or otherwise aren’t thriving. The task force suggested reaching out to groups that influence the legal profession: the judiciary, regulators, legal employers, law schools, bar associations, lawyers’ professional liability carriers, and lawyer assistance programs. In response, the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration announced the formation of the Kansas State Task Force on Lawyer WellBeing. Under the coordination of The Kansas Lawyers Assistance Program (KALAP), this task force was charged with implementing the national recommendations. For law schools, this includes, amongst other things, providing education opportunities on well-being-related topics. A course should be created to include various restorative practices such as mindfulness, meditation and yoga.
In response to the task force recommendations, the University of Kansas School of Law instituted a school-wide wellness program. This program offers students mental health and substance use disorder resources, onsite professional counselors, and discourages alcohol-centered social events. It has also opened up the door for the Wheat Law Library to take on a new role: a space for restorative practices. As luck would have it, I have been in the mindfulness field for a dozen years. I began practicing Zen in 2007 and in 2017 was ordained, receiving certification to teach. In 2018, I became the faculty advisor for KU’s Mindfulness in Law Society and began leading the group in short meditations across the street at the Burge Union. Starting in August 2019 with the integration of the Kansas Lawyer Well-Being Task Force’s recommendation, dedicated space in the Wheat Law Library was given to host various restorative practices. The Mindfulness in Law Society’s meditations were moved from the Burge Union to Room 212 of the Wheat Law Library and have been dubbed Mindful Mondays, starting at 4:45 p.m. On Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m, former KU Law students are brought in to teach yoga. The Wheat Law Library has always been and will remain a space that fulfills the needs of our students and faculty whether it’s setting students up for academic success, helping faculty with their research needs, or focusing on our patrons’ overall wellness. Books are just a small part of what we do.
UPCOMING EVENTS 30th Annual Barber Emerson Bluebook Relays October 25, 2019 KU vs. Texas Tech Homecoming Tailgate Party October 26, 2019 Kansas Law Review Symposium November 8, 2019
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Circulation desk welcomes nine new student employees
Ahmad Algahtani is working on his doctoral thesis at KU Law. He completed a bachelor’s degree in Saudi Arabia and a master’s degree in law from Michigan State University.
Claudia Chavarria is a 2L from El Pas degree in political science at the Unive dancing, being with her friends, eating
Greg Gietzen is a 3L from Wichita. He studied economics and philosophy at Wichita State University. He aspires to one day have a cat and name him Dean Meow-za.
Samuel Klaassen is a 2L from Marqu mathematics and Spanish from Bethan Medical Center for five years before at
Abraham Pfannenstiel is a 2L from WaKeeney, Kansas. He completed his undergraduate degree in political science from Fort Hays State University. He is very pleased that KU Law is next door to Allen Fieldhouse.
Nick Slovikoski is a 3L from Lenexa, during college, so he stuck around for l playing with his cats or at virtually any
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so, Texas. She received a bachelor’s ersity of Texas at El Paso. She enjoys good food and sleeping.
Angelito dela Cruz is a 2L from Effingham, Kansas. He plans to practice criminal law after he completes law school and passes the bar. He enjoys reading, exercising, cooking, and spending time with his fiance and two cats.
uette, Kansas. He received degrees in ny College, then worked for the KU ttending law school.
Cori Moffett is a 2L from Houston, Texas. She earned degrees in history and international studies from K-State. She enjoys spending quality time with her dog and mispronouncing legal terms.
Kansas. He didn’t get enough of KU law school. He can often be found y Kansas City sporting event.
Aisha Springette is a 2L who has resided in five different countries so far. She plans to pursue a career in data privacy. If you ever want to talk about animals or technology, you can find her behind the library desk. Wheat Law Library | Hearsay
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Library staff directory OUR MISSION
Christopher L. Steadham Director csteadham@ku.edu 785-864-9242
Pam Crawford Assistant Director, Public & Technical Services pcraw4d@ku.edu 785-864-9264
Melissa Doebele Library Assistant mdoebele@ku.edu 785-864-3360
Jeff Montgomery Circulation & Serials Department Manager jmontgom@ku.edu 785-864-9252
As the largest and oldest law library in Kansas, the Wheat Law Library is an integral part of the School of Law. It serves the law school and university community in legal and interdisciplinary scholarly pursuits and provides attorneys, judges and the general public with access to legal information. Key components of this mission include collecting and preserving Kansas, national and international legal documents, teaching legal information literacy and serving as a legal information gateway by providing access to sources beyond the scope of the physical collection.
LIBRARY HOURS August 29 - December 1, 2019 Mon - Thur 7:30 am - 11 pm Friday 7:30 am - 5 pm Saturday 9 am - 5 pm Sunday 10 am - 11 pm
W. Blake Wilson Assistant Director Instructional & Research Services wilsonwb@ku.edu 785-864-9253
EXAM HOURS December 2 - 19, 2019 Mon - Thur 7:30 am - 1 am Friday 7:30 am - 10 pm Saturday 9 am - 10 pm Sunday 10 am - 1 am Friday, December 20, 2019 7:30 am - 5 pm Wheat Law Library | Hearsay
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