Rosemarie Harrison The Sussex County Law Library INFO 520, Fall 2010
The Sussex County Law Library
Certification
I certify that:
This assignment is entirely my own work.
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I have not submitted any of the material in this document to satisfy the requirements of any other course.
Signature / Name (Print) / DateRosemarie Harrison
Student ID 12271968 / Nov. 6, 2010
The Sussex County Law Library is a private library for the judges of the Sussex County Courthouse in Georgetown, Delaware. Through the judge’s generosity, the resources of the library are available to Delaware Bar members via the issuance of key cards that allow access until 10:00 p.m. and on weekends. The general public may access the library two hours each week when a security guard is present. The Sussex County Law Library is housed in a single room in the Courthouse Annex. One librarian, Ms.Leah Chandler, staffs the library. She provided the information included in this report both by answering questions and by providing a tour of the facility.
When Ms. Chandler first took on the task of managing the library part-time seven years ago, it was in three rooms with many out-of-date resources. One book can cost $300 and, with multiple sets to keep current, the cost to update print materials would have been prohibitive. Instead of replacing those volumes, she drastically reduced the collection by sending obsolete volumes to the state archives. She set aside funding for three patron computer terminals with Westlaw and LexisNexis subscriptions and a wireless network which gives visitors another method to access these subscriptions. She also reorganized the collection by subject rather than author and arranged for the library’s large collection of legislative history and court decisions to be scanned into a database. It was this reorganization of the library to facilitate currency, relevancy, and ease of use that earned her the full-time position of library director.
Volumes in the library’s 15,000-item collection are not organized using a standard classification system such as the Library of Congress or Dewey Decimal Systems. Instead, they are grouped by subject in a system devised by Ms. Chandler. For example, all federal law is together and separate from criminal law and evidence. This organization makes it easy for patrons to quickly look at a section to find what they need.
As the library’s sole staff person, Ms. Chandler performs all collection management tasks including purchasing, collection development, and cataloging. Since this is a private library, the collection development policy is to acquire materials that will meet the needs of the judges. Ms. Chandler’s collection development process involves an annual reevaluation of what the judges are using. While she does not keep statistics on individual book usage, she does tally the books that have been signed out by the judges. Usage by other patrons is not relevant to collection development. If there are funds available and there is an area of high interest, she will add more resources in that area.
The bound volumes and other paper documents the library does hold are processed and cataloged on site. The catalog is in the form of a list of titles and is accessible to state employees, including the librarians of the Dover and Wilmington courthouse law libraries and the Public Defenders Office. Ms. Chandler has a private list which includes which years are included in a series and whether it is currently subscribed or lapsed, but there is no catalog or list of individual volumes.
The library’s printed materials circulate in an informal manner to judges and attorneys of the Delaware Bar. When a judge or attorney needs to borrow a volume, he or she signs out the book by writing the title and his or her name on a list. There is no set checkout period; however, if a judge needs the material it is recalled immediately. If the item has not been returned in two to four weeks, Ms.Chandler contacts the borrower by phone or email to ask for return of the volume. Ms.Chandler knows all her patrons, often personally as well as professionally, so they are likely to comply with her recall requests. Items do not circulate to the general public.
The library’s non-print collection is extensive. There are microfiche of historical Delaware Code; but, since the reader was recently removed, these films will be archived. An often-used database contains recently-scanned historical Court of Chancery and Superior Court decisions. LexisNexis and Westlaw are the two other major electronic resources and these subscriptions include hundreds of journals and newspapers. When she needs to research for a judge who is planning a speech, Ms.Chandler uses these databases to collect articles from online journals such as The Yale Law Journal or The Delaware Journal of Corporate Law.
Patrons are welcome to use all of the library’s resources to conduct their own searches. Ms.Chandler uses online and digital resources, the library’s bound volumes, and the library’s document collection to provide searching services for the judges, attorneys, and the public. She needs to be careful when the general public or pro se litigants request search assistance. While she cannot provide legal interpretation or counsel, she can help them locate a specific form, case, or regulation. If their question is a general one, she will steer them towards LexisNexis to search on their own and possibly refer them to the local community college which provides LexisNexis access to the public. There are no charges for search services.
Ms. Chandler is satisfied with the usage levels of both print and electronic resources. During the tour, she indicated several current and historical bound series and document collections that, in addition to the online resources, receive extensive use. Patrons mainly use the library for access to specific information, for example a specific form, the text of a specific case, or the history of a specific law. Occasionally, a patron will bring in his or her personal laptop for a few days of database access for a major research project.
In addition to the print and electronic materials available on site, Ms. Chandler makes extensive use of inter-library loan (ILL) services, which are available only to the judges. ILL materials primarily come from the two other courthouse law libraries in the state and university law libraries. Occasionally, she will request an item from the Delaware Library Catalog or a public library elsewhere in the country. None of the library’s resources leave the facility to fill ILL requests unless those requests are for judges in Wilmington or Dover.
Ms. Chandler has not joined any library associations. If she did, she would have to pay the dues herself. If money were no object, she would consider joining one of the law library associations. She does occasionally use law library association websites as a resource for information about legal resources and reference materials. She and the two other county courthouse law librarians have a close and informal network. They speak frequently about their collections and coordinate activities so that, between them, they maintain a current set of the major works needed.
Ms. Chandler believes that the library’s combined print, electronic, and ILL resources are adequate to meet the needs of her patrons. Though she is not able to keep all print resources available at her location, she can “keep the main resources up to date and have access to the others.” Ms. Chandler explained that she and the other courthouse law librarians “have it down to a system.” Each of the three courthouse law libraries has a different focus depending on the needs of the local judges. For example, she keeps the evidence, procedure, and chancery sections up to date. Another of the libraries might focus on other areas of law, such as bankruptcy or real estate. Their combined resources, along with electronic and external ILL services, provide whatever her primary patrons, the judges, need.
There are two items on Ms. Chandler’s “wish list.” First, she would like an assistant to help with the many tasks she performs and to keep the library open when she cannot be there. Though legal research experience would be an advantage, she is not concerned that the individual have library experience. Her main qualification for an assistant is that the person be a “conscientious worker, considerate, and willing to learn.” When she first started, she had no library or legal experience. She expects that an intelligent person can learn on the job, the same way she did. The second item on her “wish list” is a budget that will allow her to expand her print holdings, and to keep the new resources up to date. Her current annual budget is $83,000 for resources and supplies. $21,600 of this amount pays for LexisNexis and Westlaw subscriptions. Her budget has been cut several times in recent years and last year’s 3% increase did not make up for those cutbacks.
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