New Jersey Law Librarians Association (NJLLA)

NJLLA Founders Grant Now Available

The New Jersey Law Librarians Association is excited to send one of our chapter members to the American Association of Law Libraries (“AALL”) Meeting & Conference in Chicago, July 20-23, 2024!

The AALL Meeting & Conference is a unique opportunity that can be explored further by visiting their website at AALL Annual Meeting & Conference (aallnet.org). Our goal is to provide an enriching experience as the awarded member learns and networks with colleagues from across the country. The purpose of this grant is specifically designed to assist the grant recipient with the costs of registration, transportation, and hotel accommodations up to $1,500.00.

Please note:

Applications are reviewed by a blind committee; therefore, questions should only be directed to the Vice President of NJLLA, Magalie Desince, via email at Magalie.Desince@gmail.com.
Contacting any Grant Committee members directly regarding your grant application, or anyone else’s grant application, will be grounds for disqualification.
Application Deadline: 11:59pm, April 8, 2024.
Please read the full list of qualifications and requirements on the application before you apply.
Use the link below to access the application

Even if you are not a grant recipient, we encourage you to be an Early Bird attendee. Visit the AALL conference link above for more information. The AALL Early Bird registration rate ends May 3, 2024. The Early Bird Hyatt Regency hotel registration rate ends June 22, 2024.

Message from the Chair: Good luck to all applicants! As the 2023 Founders Grant recipient, I thoroughly enjoyed attending and could not be more grateful to the association for providing this grant. I’m excited to give back and encourage you all to attend the conference. RLM

Questions should only be directed to the Vice President of NJLLA, Magalie Desince via email at Magalie.Desince@gmail.com.

2024 NJLLA Founders Grant Application available here.

NJLLA Virtual Training Series 🗓

For our February and March programs, the NJLLA Program Committee is offering two virtual training sessions with researchers from the New Jersey State Law Library and the Library of Congress.

Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 12:30 pm ET (via Zoom)
Cynthia Lambert from the New Jersey State Law Library will provide an overview of legal resources and services available to assist you with New Jersey-specific legal and non-legal research.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 12:00 pm ET (via Zoom)
The Library of Congress has a vast array of resources available to support and enhance your research capabilities. This session will provide an overview of available legal and non-legal resources.

To register for either or both sessions, please email Kathy Taggart at ktaggart@lowenstein.com at least 24 hours in advance of the dates and times listed above to receive the Zoom invitations. Please indicate which sessions you would like to attend in your email. These sessions will be recorded.

NJLLA Annual Holiday Party 🗓

New Jersey Law Librarians Association

NJLLA Annual Holiday Party
(In Person!)

We are thrilled to announce the return of the in-person Holiday Party!
Join us for a fun holiday celebration, including a dinner buffet, dessert, and a celebration of the first night of Hanukkah. We look forward to seeing you!
Note: This event is for NJLLA members only.

DATE: Thursday, December 7, 2023

LOCATION: Lowenstein Sandler, One Lowenstein Drive, Roseland, NJ 07068

TIME: 5:30 – 8:00 pm

RSVP: Contact Kathy Taggart by Monday, December 4^th at
ktaggart@lowenstein.com OR (732) 754-0829 (cell)

Thank you to Thomson Reuters for generously sponsoring this holiday party every year!

Community Service Project:
We will be doing our traditional collection of children’s pajamas and books for the Pajama Program. In addition to bringing items to the party, you can purchase and ship directly using this link (include NJLLA in the comment section) or Venmo Johanna Bizub at @johanna-bizub and she can purchase them for you and include them in the collection.

NJLLA Brownbag Series: Research Tips 🗓

SAVE THE DATE: November 16th from 12pm-12:45pm (via Zoom)

The NJLLA Program Committee is hosting another session in our brownbag lunch-and-learn topic series! This meeting will focus on the topic of: Research Tips.

For this meeting, we would like you to submit questions, a research hot take you may have, and/or your favorite research tip(s) to our meeting moderator, Amber Cain at amber.cain@shu.edu by Wednesday, November 15th to compile for the session.

If you would like to RSVP to listen in, please email Kathy Taggart at ktaggart@lowenstein.com by Monday, November 13th for a Zoom invitation.

We look forward to seeing you!

NJLLA Book Club – October 18 🗓

The selection for NJLLA’s October Book Club is How Can I Help You by Laura Sims. Recently published, this page turner takes place in a small public library with a quirky cast of characters. The author, Laura Sims, is a friend of NJLLA member Zoraida (Zoe) Michaud, who has kindly arranged for the author to join us on our Zoom call. Zoe will serve as the moderator.

The Program Committee was able to locate copies locally in a number of libraries so hopefully you can do the same.

Please join us!
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
5:30 – 6:30 pm

RSVP to Kathy Taggart (ktaggart@lowenstein.com) to receive the Zoom link

NJLLA Brownbag Series: Pressing Issues Your Library Is Facing (Other Than AI) 🗓

SAVE THE DATE: September 28th from 12pm-12:45pm (via Zoom)

The NJLLA Program Committee is hosting a brownbag lunch-and-learn topic series this year! The inaugural meeting will focus on the topic of: Pressing Issues Your Library Is Facing (Other Than AI).

We are experimenting with a new structure. We would like for a few members (up to 5) to share their thoughts on the topic in 5-minute time slots, to be followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. We think this will provide a forum for members to share and for all of us to hear from several voices.

If you would like to RSVP to listen in, please email Kathy Taggart at ktaggart@lowenstein.com by Monday, September 25th for a Zoom invitation.

If you have ideas to share as a speaker and would like to sign up for one of the five 5-minute slots to discuss this topic, please email Kathy Taggart at ktaggart@lowenstein.com AND Amber Cain at amber.cain@shu.edu by Wednesday, September 20th to secure your speaking spot.

We look forward to connecting with members in new ways this year!

NJLLA Grant Winner Recap of AALL

NJLLA’s Founders Grant Award winner for 2023 was Roberta L. Matalon, the law librarian at Connell Foley LLP. Roberta attended AALL in Boston and has provided a recap of her time there. Read her essay about the terrific experience she had, the panels she attended, and the people she met. Roberta took some great photos of the event, which you can see in her essay. Of course AI was a major topic at the conference, so read to the end to find ChatGPT’s summary of the AALL Conference as well!

NJLLA 2023 Annual Business Meeting (Virtual) 🗓

Join us for NJLLA’s 2023 Annual Business Meeting!

DATE: Tuesday, May 11, 2023

TIME: 12:30 noon – 1:30 pm

LOCATION: Zoom

RSVP: Email your RSVP to Kathy Taggart (ktaggart@lowenstein.com). You will then receive a calendar invite with Zoom details.

NEW JERSEY LAW LIBRARIANS ASSOCIATION
2023-2024 NOMINEES FOR OFFICE

In accordance with Article IX, Section 1 (b) of the bylaws, the Nominating Committee is pleased to present its candidates for the following offices:

PRESIDENT
(Appointed automatically by succession.)
Judith Simms
Rutgers Law Library
Newark, NJ

VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT
Magalie Desince
McCarter & English LLP
Newark, NJ

PAST PRESIDENT
(Appointed automatically by succession.)
Johanna Bizub
Morris County Real Estate Law
Morristown, NJ

TREASURER
Kathy Taggart
Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Roseland, NJ

SECRETARY
Amber Cain
Seton Hall Law Library
Newark, NJ

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Carolyn Brown
Seton Hall University
Newark, NJ

Aimee Sachs
Gibbons PC
Newark, NJ

ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS:
The Nominating Committee solicits the membership for input during the selection process and it is deemed that the nominees presented are the candidates of the membership. However, any member in good standing in the Association may make additional nominations by petition. The member must contact the President at least 15* days prior to the annual meeting, submitting the petition in writing, endorsed with the signatures of at least 10 other members, as specified in Article IX, Section 1 (c) of the Association’s bylaws. (*normally 30 days)

ELECTIONS:
Election of officers will occur at the Association’s annual business meeting (virtual) on May 11, 2023.

Apply Now for NJLLA Annual Meeting Grants

NJLLA has two grants available this year to send our chapter members to the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) conference in Boston this summer from July 15-18, 2023.

One grant is our annual Founders Grant. The purpose of this Grant is to financially assist a member of NJLLA to attend the AALL Annual Meeting. This NJLLA Grant covers the cost of registration, transportation, and hotel accommodations up to $1,500. Receipts for these costs must be submitted to the NJLLA Treasurer. Applications are due April 17, 2023.

The other grant comes to us from AALL. Each Annual Meeting, AALL underwrites one free full conference registration for a number of chapters on a rotating basis. NJLLA members are eligible for the grant this year. AALL’s goal is to provide an enriching experience as the member learns and networks with colleagues from across the country. The applicant must be a member of the New Jersey Law Librarians Association and a newer member of the American Association of Law Libraries (joined AALL in 2013 or later.) Applications for this grant are also due April 17, 2023.

For both of these grants, applicants must have been NJLLA members for at least 3 months prior to application. Prior grant recipients (within the last five years) and current members of the Grants & Awards Committee are not eligible to apply.

Full application information and details are available on the applications below.

2023 NJLLA Founders Grant Application available here.

2023 AALL Chapter Registration Award for NJLLA Members available here.

Questions may be directed to the Chair of our Grants & Awards Committee, Carrie Hayter, at chayter@lowenstein.com or 862-926-2053.

April 2023 Program: Accessibility at Work: Offering Information Services to Diverse Populations 🗓

The New Jersey Law Librarians Association and the NJ Community of the Special Libraries Association invites you to the following free virtual event:

Accessibility at Work: Offering Information Services to Diverse Populations

April 19, 2023: 4pm – 5pm (ET)

In the world of diversity, equity and inclusion, librarians need to confirm that the classes we teach, the marketing and training materials we produce for our patrons, and the websites we use to offer resources and instruction are accessible to all users. Paying attention to accessibility factors in our work product shows that we understand that our users have different requirements, and we will include accommodations for those requirements so that what we have to offer is available to all of our patrons.

Fred Moltz, CAO of Verizon’s Office of Accessibility, will clue us in on how we can offer our services to a diverse audience using accessibility tools. Fred’s experience includes over 23 years at Verizon in multiple strategic roles, including the last 7 years building Verizon’s Accessibility Program from the ground up. Fred’s mission is to provide continued leadership that incorporates Accessibility by Design in all aspects of Verizon that will provide exceptional experiences for all employees and customers. Fred and his team work daily to “Engage Everyone and Reimagine Accessibility.”

Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://rutgers.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEvd-2uqzIqG9AoVj_n1_ez7vTDOFL4Xu3u

This program will be recorded.

Community Service Project: Donate to the Randolph Regional Animal Shelter at www.randolphregionalanimalshelter.org/donate or Venmo Johanna Bizub at @johanna-bizub

Questions? Please contact Julie Peters at jpeters@smlr.rutgers.edu