The Western Pennsylvania Law Library Association (WPLLA) 2012-2013 executive board members were: Karen Shephard, president; Mary Stacy, vice president; Melanie Johnston, past-president; Kate Frey, treasurer; Stosh Jonjak, secretary; Sue Megarry; and Yan Yu, members at-large.
This year’s programming committee, chaired by Vice-President Mary Stacy, brought a variety of interesting presentations and events to WPLLA. Under Mary’s leadership, committee members included Louise Beswick, Cindy Cicco, Pat Roncevich, and Karen Shephard.
Activities 2012-2013 — WPLLA was very active in 2013. In July, several members who attended the AALL Annual Meeting in Boston met for dinner with colleagues from GPLLA (the Greater Philly chapter of AALL) to help unify Pennsylvania law librarians and to enjoy great company and great food! In August, WPLLA staffed an information table during the New Student Orientation at the University of Pittsburgh’s iSchool (School of Information Science), and in September, good health was WPLLA’s focus with a program on the “10 Keys”™ to Healthy Aging, presented by Constance M. Bayles, Ph.D., of the U. of Pittsburgh.
October 3rd marked WPLLA’s official kickoff with its Opening Business Meeting, and later that month Rita Young-Jones of Reed Smith spoke to members about her experiences and strategies used as an embedded librarian. November’s program by Reed Archives was on “Website and Social Media Preservation for Use as Evidence, Research and Competitive Insight.” And in December, WPLLA members enjoyed a festive holiday event including dinner and/or a show. Thomson Reuters/Westlaw provided generous sponsorship for the event.
In January, WPLLA member and certified trainer/coach, Michele Kristakis, presented “Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Changing Your Life” and in February, members gathered for an AALL webinar on SharePoint. Members also were treated to a Librarian Luncheon/Lexis Update in March. During the winter months, WPLLA and GPLLA teamed up to write a combined letter of support for UELMA (the Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act), which it sent to Pennsylvania Senator Joseph B. Scarnati. WPLLA and GPLLA worked together through the spring to offer a collaborative webinar in April. The program, “How, What, When, and Where to Get Published,“ featured six panelists and a moderator, all members of GPLLA or WPLLA. It was designed to encourage law librarians to publish, sharing information about their work to benefit their colleagues and the profession.
Also during the spring months, WPLLA again held an essay contest to award $500 to a participating member to be used toward attendance of the AALL Annual Meeting. This year’s winner was Patrick Parsons, who attended the conference in Seattle. WPLLA’s Closing Event on May 14th featured local author Mary F. Calland. It was generously hosted by Babst Calland. WPLLA’s activities again extended into June, with training sessions to better-prepare local summer associates. With the generous sponsorship of both Thomson Reuters/Westlaw and Bloomberg Law, WPLLA offered a three-day Legal Research Workshop, focusing on federal, Pennsylvania, and business resources. Instructors included WPLLA members Joel Fishman, Marc Silverman, and Rita Young-Jones. Finally, at 2013 AALL Annual Meeting and Conference in July in Seattle, WPLLA and GPLLA members reconvened for the Second Annual WPLLA-GPLLA Dinner. Approximately 15 chapter members and guests attended.
The 2013-2014 board members are: Stosh Jonjak, president (elected to office – prior vice president Mary Stacy vacated the position to enable her to dedicate more time to family); Cindy Cicco, vice president; Amy Gillis, treasurer; Amy Lovell, secretary; and executive board members Yan Yu and Sue Megarry. Ex-officio: Karen Shephard, past-president.
It has been a great pleasure and honor serving WPLLA over the past two years and I thank members not only for affording me this opportunity, but for their continued support. I look forward to what the new WPLLA year brings!
Western Pennsylvania Law Library Association 