Virginia Association of Law Libraries (VALL) Fall 2017 Meeting

Virginia Association of Law LibrariesThe Fall 2017 Meeting of the Virginia Association of Law Libraries (VALL) will take place as a joint conference with the Virginia Library Association.  A list of VALL conference activities is below. Our educational programs (described in more detail below) were created by and will be presented by law librarians, but all conference-goers are invited to attend!  We are also proud to welcome Ron Wheeler, the Director of the Fineman & Pappas Law Libraries and Associate Professor of Law and Legal Research at the Boston University School of Law, and the Immediate Past President of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).


VALL Business Meeting

Thursday October 12, 11:45 am - 12:15 pm


Funding Professional Development: Getting a Bigger Bang for Your Buck

Thursday, October 12, 2:30 pm - 3:15 pm

In this time of shrinking budgets it is hard to find money to fund professional development. But these activities, taking classes, attending conferences, are important. They keep library staff up-to-date on the best practices and inspire them to try to develop new programs and services. But how to equitably fund them? The two speakers will discuss best practices to allocate funding and ways to increase funding.

Presenters: Joyce Manna Janto, University of Richmond School of Law; Caroline Osborne, Washington & Lee University School of Law

Diversity Dialogues

Friday, October 13, 10:30 am – 11:15 am

The regular feature in Law Library Journal titled Diversity Dialogues seeks to engage readers for whom diversity and inclusion has never been a priority. By using anecdotes from his own personal life, its author seeks to tap into readers’ empathy, compassion and human understanding. During this session, Professor Ron Wheeler will read excerpts from his Diversity Dialogues essays and engage audience members in a discussion of their impact, effectiveness, importance, and relevance to law libraries.

Featured Speaker: Ron Wheeler, Fineman & Pappas Law Libraries, Boston University

Finding Legislation and Regulations: When Your Users Want to Engage Past the Headlines

Friday, October 13, 1:15 pm – 2:00 pm

This program will teach librarians how to find and track both Federal and Virginia legislation as well as Federal and Virginia regulations. The program’s objective is to explain how to locate legislative and regulatory resources that librarians can use to enhance the civic experience of their users. The audience will learn where to find current legislation, pending bills, and regulations, as well as other documents useful to understanding current and proposed laws and regulations, and how to navigate and search within Federal and Virginia legislative and regulatory resources effectively. The audience will also learn where to find Federal executive orders.

Presenter: William E. Magee, Regent University School of Law

—Updated 9/9/2017