Chicago Association of Law Libraries

Chicago Association of Law Libraries
Name	Chicago Association of Law Libraries
Formation	1905
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois
Region served	Chicago metropolitan area
Membership	Law librarians, legal information professionals

Chicago Association of Law Libraries The Chicago Association of Law Libraries (established 1905) is a regional professional association for law librarians and legal information specialists in the Chicago metropolitan area, connecting practitioners, academic staff, firm librarians, and court librarians. It operates within a constellation of institutions including the Illinois Supreme Court, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Chicago, and the Chicago Public Library, and interacts with national bodies such as the American Association of Law Libraries and the Special Libraries Association. Its activities link courthouse research at the Cook County Courthouse, appellate practice at the Seventh Circuit, and academic scholarship at the John Marshall Law School and Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

History

Founded in 1905 amid a wave of professionalization that included the establishment of the American Library Association and the American Association of Law Libraries, the organization grew alongside legal institutions such as the Illinois Bar and the Chicago Bar Association. Early members included law librarians from the Illinois Supreme Court Law Library, the Chicago Law School, and private law firms practicing before the United States Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit. During the Progressive Era and the New Deal, members supported access to legislative materials from the Illinois General Assembly and federal statutes like the Judiciary Act and the Social Security Act, working with municipal entities such as the City of Chicago and county offices in Cook County. Postwar expansion paralleled growth in university law libraries at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, University of Chicago Law School, and the University of Illinois, while later decades saw collaborations with the Legal Aid Society and judicial librarians at the Chicago Federal Courthouse.

Mission and Activities

The association’s mission centers on improving legal information access, supporting professional development, and fostering collaboration among institutions such as the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Foundation, the American Bar Association, and law firms like Baker McKenzie and Kirkland & Ellis. It advances practical skills relevant to statutory research involving the Illinois Compiled Statutes, federal codes like the United States Code, and case law from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Illinois Appellate Court. The association promotes standards influenced by entities such as the Library of Congress, the Copyright Office, the National Archives, and the Government Publishing Office, and engages with judicial information systems used in chambers of judges like those on the Illinois Supreme Court and district courts including the Northern District of Illinois.

Membership and Governance

Membership includes librarians and information professionals from academic institutions such as DePaul University College of Law, Roosevelt University, and Loyola University Chicago, as well as from corporate libraries at companies like United Airlines and McDonald’s legal departments, non-profit legal services such as Legal Aid Chicago, and court libraries serving judges on the Seventh Circuit and the Illinois Circuit Courts. Governance follows a board and officer structure with elected positions reminiscent of governance at the American Association of Law Libraries and university faculty senates at institutions like Northwestern and the University of Chicago. Committees address cataloging practices aligned with Library of Congress classification, digital preservation akin to initiatives at the Internet Archive, and copyright issues echoing debates at the Copyright Alliance and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Publications and Communications

The association produces newsletters, meeting minutes, and bibliographies that reference primary sources such as the Federal Reporter, Illinois Reports, and municipal codes from the City of Chicago, and it curates guides comparable to those published by the Yale Law Library, Harvard Law School Library, and Columbia Law School. Communications channels include listservs similar to those used by the American Bar Association, social media presences engaging networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, and cooperative bibliographic projects referencing resources at the Library of Congress, the National Law Library, and the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University.

Events and Continuing Education

Educational programming includes seminars and workshops modeled after CLE providers such as the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association, with content on Westlaw and LexisNexis platforms, HeinOnline collections, and open-access resources promoted by the Free Law Project and the Public Library of Law. Events often take place in venues connected to the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, DePaul University, and the Daley Center, and feature speakers from the Seventh Circuit, the Illinois Supreme Court, law publishers like Thomson Reuters, and academic authors from Stanford Law School, Yale Law School, and Harvard Law School.

Awards and Recognition

The association confers honors recognizing service and innovation in legal information akin to awards presented by the American Association of Law Libraries, the Special Libraries Association, and university libraries such as the University of Michigan Law Library. Recipients have included leaders from law libraries at Loyola University Chicago, Chicago-Kent College of Law, the University of Chicago, and prominent firm librarians from Mayer Brown and Sidley Austin, reflecting contributions to initiatives like digital access projects at the National Archives and cataloging reforms at the Library of Congress.

Partnerships and Community Outreach

Partnerships extend to legal aid organizations including Legal Aid Society, the Public Interest Law Initiative, and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, and to civic institutions such as the Chicago Public Library, the Illinois State Library, and municipal offices in Cook County. Outreach initiatives collaborate with law schools like the University of Illinois College of Law and advocacy groups such as the ACLU of Illinois and the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, promoting pro bono resources, public access terminals, and research assistance for self-represented litigants in courts like the Circuit Court of Cook County and federal district courts.

Category:Professional associations based in Chicago Category:Library associations in the United States Category:Law librarianship