Introducing…Janet Kearney as the August FCIL Librarian of the Month (and Winner of the Newest FCIL Librarian Award)

1. Where did you grow up?

Although I was born in Texas, I’ve lived in the New Orleans area since I could talk. Even though I’ve traveled around a bit, I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to settle in New Orleans for the long term.

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

In Paris, while studying abroad with Tulane Law School

I like to think that law librarianship selected me. In my last year of law school, I was an extern for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Library. I chose this placement, honestly, because it sounded like a nice break in my schedule, but I discovered that I actually enjoyed it. I never liked the idea of working for a firm (policy nut here!), and I found this career that focused on my favorite part of work: research.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

I’ve always enjoyed traveling, so I think an interest in FCIL issues is a natural extension of that. My undergraduate degree is in International Studies, and I studied abroad in undergrad and law school. I spent a summer as an intern for the U.S. Consulate in Belfast, UK and was able to do some fascinating legal/policy research on issues specific to Northern Ireland.

4. Who is your current employer?  How long have you worked there?

I am at Loyola University New Orleans Law Library as the Cataloging & Reference Librarian. It’s a small ship with an “all hands on deck” attitude – because of my background and interests, I’m lucky enough to serve as a de-facto FCIL librarian. I’ve been here since September 2015, originally as a reference staffer and now as an Assistant Professor.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?
   

   Meeting Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Paris

I have only elementary proficiency in French – enough to order food and get around on trips. My reading skills are a bit stronger, but I have a copy of the first Harry Potter in French that I use to stretch those muscles.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

Finishing law school and passing the Louisiana bar exam. So much hard work and pain (and money) goes into both accomplishments. Working in a law school and talking to students prepping for the same bar, I consistently tell them it’s a horrible thing, but when you pass, the sense of accomplishment is off the charts.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

Ice cream or dessert in general. I believe there is an extra stomach just for dessert.

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

It’s so cheesy I’m almost afraid to admit it, but the song Nobody’s Perfect from Hannah Montana. I used to listen to it over and over to pump myself up for exams in law school.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

Number 1 – stronger language skills. Way down the list is the ability to read my cat’s mind.

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you cannot go a day without?

Coffee! Or is it considered a basic necessity? I think this comes up frequently in these surveys!

Ruth Bader, Janet’s cat, with the Bluebook

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

I have two cats, Ruth Bader and Drew Brees – named after the Justice and the Saints football player, respectively. At AALL in Chicago, I noticed that a lot of librarians also have cats, so perhaps people will find that interesting or at least cute.

 

Introducing…Marci Hoffman as the January 2016 FCIL Librarian of the Month

1. Where did you grow up?

I was born in Littleton, Colorado (outside of Denver) but we moved to Southern California when I was a kid. So I really grew up in the San Fernando Valley before there were any “valley girls.”

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

When I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, I went to work as a legal assistant in a law firm.  So glad I did — I thought that the work lawyers did was dull but legal research was fun!  Then I met the librarian at Lucas Films and I wanted her job (but she said I’d have to wait until she died).  In the end, my firm offered me a job when I got out of library school. A girl’s gotta eat!

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

I always loved international relations, government and political science and FCIL work gave me an opportunity to utilize my interest and knowledge.  When I started at Berkeley Law (then called Boalt) in 1991, I learned a lot by watching what Tom Reynold did (Tom wasn’t big on sharing in those days). I followed him around the stacks, peered over his shoulder and took lots of notes.  I was then lucky to get my first FCIL job at the University of Minnesota Law Library and I learned by doing the work.  FCIL programs, trainings, and helpful colleagues helped fill in the gaps.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

Berkeley Law employs me currently and I’ve been back for about 12.5 years.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

I hesitate to say “speak” since I’m too insecure.  I can read German and Spanish.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

Getting to work each day!  Okay, I’d say working with David Weissbrodt on the Minnesota Human Rights Library, one of the first collections of international human rights instruments on the web. I’ve also been fortunate enough to work on several other projects.  I love working with Mary Rumsey and we wrote the IFLR Coursebook together.  She always makes me look (and sound) better.  I’m also really lucky to be able to work on the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals and the Foreign Law Guide with the help of many wonderful colleagues.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

Wine – all kinds!  Oh, is wine a food?

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

Creativity and artistic ability – paint, draw, whatever. My stick figure drawings leave much to be desired.

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you not go a day without?

Coffee – double latte with non-fat milk.  I would say wine but I don’t want to give the wrong impression.  One other thing, my husband.  Sounds corny but he gets me through each and every day (he cooks all of our meals).  Sorry, that’s more than one thing.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

Although I am now an associate director with many other responsibilities, I still do most of the FCIL work here at Berkeley Law.  It’s the best part of my job.

Introducing…Catherine Deane as the December 2015 FCIL Librarian of the Month

 

 

Catherine Deane and her grandmother, Elsie Deane, on the family estate in Toco, Trinidad

1. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Trinidad. That’s the larger island of the twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. My childhood was idyllic. I lived in the suburbs of the main city, Port-of-Spain, but it was a new development and my house was and still is surrounded by jungle on 3 sides with a creek nearby where I would collect tadpoles and keep them in my Mother’s cake pan in my room (sorry Mum) and feed them tiny pieces of meat, watching them grow into little frogs. My family went on bi-monthly trips to the countryside where my grandfather owned a lot of land that had been a coffee and cocoa estate, but he and my father planted ground provision, cedar and mahogany trees and tropical fruit trees, including pommerac trees and all manner of mango trees. So we all ate a lot of blue food, and fruit, sometimes as many as 20 mangoes or oranges in a day!

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

I didn’t, I specifically went to library school to be a FCIL librarian, not just a law librarian.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

In law school, I had studied foreign and international law, studying abroad in Dublin, London and Belgium. I did a joint degree in law and anthropology and graduated with two advanced degrees in three years by going to school all year round (including Summers). My closest law school friend, became a law librarian and she encouraged me to go to library school and to pursue the path toward being a FCIL librarian by sending me an article about FCIL librarianship written by Mary Rumsey. I was very lucky to have Vince Moyer, the FCIL librarian from UC Hastings as my mentor. I interned under him throughout library school and I couldn’t have been happier. Although my first job title was reference librarian, since I was the only full-time reference librarian, I got all of the FCIL questions as well as U.S. law questions.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

I’ve worked at Vanderbilt University for the last three years.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

I’ve been code switching from standard English to Trinidadian English since childhood because my mother was a schoolteacher who insisted that we learn standard English, but my grandparents spoke Trinidadian English and it would have been pretentious to respond to them in standard English, even though they understood it just fine. I can have a pretty good conversation in Spanish, and I can read basic French and Portuguese. This year, I started learning some German but I’m certainly not at a conversational level, although I can ask for a beer (priorities).

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

I think the body of writing that I have done for RIPS Blog, AALL Spectrum Blog and most recently for the MAALL newsletter is my most significant professional achievement. I am trying to change the culture of our profession. As a group we tend to me more focused on instruction than on the physical space of the library. In particular, I think we can do a better job of fostering a climate for diversity within the library. I’d like us to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Students have been protesting on campuses across the nation about the racial climate on university campuses, as stewards of a space (the library) I think we can do more to ensure that all of our students feel welcome and included. Additionally, as a profession we could do more to support minority law librarians (including invisible minorities and LGBTQI librarians). The more we unveil and get rid of unnecessary policies that have a disparate impact, the more free everyone will be and the more we will enjoy our professional lives.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

Whoa, this is a difficult category, I’m tempted to just put sugar and salt. I especially love Trinidadian food, not just because it reminds me of my childhood, but also because it is seasoned to perfection. But I also regularly fall for fresh Thai basil rolls which are not complete without a Thai tea as well. And I routinely raid Mary Miles Prince’s bowl of chocolate, she is so sweet, she gets the heath bars because she knows I love them and she gets them in the mini size because she knows I have to pretend that I’m only going to eat a tiny bit (at a time).

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

I must sound like a stuck record by now, but I love Trinidadian music, Soca, Calypso and Chutney Soca, seems like every year they come out with great new songs. But I also find it really hard not to dance when the Gorillaz Clint Eastwood plays or when my favorite DJs are spinning (Edmundo, DJ Diagnosis, Airpusher Collective).

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

MMA Fighting.

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you not go a day without?

Nothing. I live life very minimally. I don’t really have furniture or much in the way of household decorations. I’m a functionalist, so I guess the thing that I really enjoy having the most is WhatsApp because I left home when I was 18 and my youngest brother was 6. Since he and my parents still live in Trinidad, I am really grateful that current technology allows me to stay in close contact with them for free. It used to be that they would have to try to catch me in my dorm room and they would call me from Trinidad using this thing called a YakJack to reduce the cost of international calls. Now, I can text my brother or my Dad from my cel phone using WhatsApp and I can Skype my Mum from my iPad. So that’s pretty awesome.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

I’m really grateful for all my FCIL colleagues, you guys are so smart and generous with your time and expertise. Many thanks for all you have taught me either directly or through your shared materials, articles and books. Please keep writing and feel free to contact me if I can help you or support you in any way.

Introducing…Lyonette Louis-Jacques as the October 2015 FCIL Librarian of the Month

1. Where did you grow up?

I spent my early childhood in Haiti. I have vague memories of mountains, jellyfish, market, L’Épée magique, and Mardi Gras celebrations. When I moved to the States, I thought Playland at Coney Island was the greatest thing, especially Skee-Ball.

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

Richard Bowler. Dick was the director of the University of Chicago Law Library back then.  During and after college, I worked at the circulation desk in the evenings. Students would ask me questions like “where can I find F.2d?” and I wouldn’t know the answer.  Dick gave me a copy of Morris Cohen’s Legal Research in a Nutshell and I was off and running.  I found l liked answering reference questions and helping students.  So I decided to go to library school (University of Michigan) and law school (University of Chicago) to become a legal reference librarian.

As a pre-professional, I had the privilege of learning about law librarianship as a career from Margaret Leary, George Grossman, and Judith Wright.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

On the job.  I had no plans to specialize in FCIL librarianship, but I needed a job after graduating from law school, and the University of Minnesota had two openings for a reference librarian, one with foreign language skills.  I applied and got my first professional position in 1986 as a foreign and international legal reference librarian.  I replaced Yugoslavia-born Joseph Levstik, who had been Foreign Law Librarian at Minnesota for 20 years (1964-1986).

Kathie Price was the director of the law library at the time and very involved in an AALL initiative to develop a new generation of FCIL librarians. The first generation of foreign, comparative, and international law librarians were mostly Europe-trained lawyers, and they were retiring or had passed away. How to replace their knowledge of foreign legal systems and legal bibliography?

I attended town meetings and workshops on how to train the future generation of FCIL librarians.  And then I participated in the educational programs created to train next generation FCIL librarians. I attended the five AALL/Oceana Institutes and co-edited (with Jeanne Korman) one of the resulting books.  The Institute books became training materials for future FCIL librarians:

• Introduction to Foreign Legal Systems (Richard A. Danner & Marie-Louise H. Bernal eds., 1994)
• Introduction to Transnational Legal Transactions (Marylin J. Raisch & Roberta I. Shaffer eds., 1995)
• Introduction to International Organizations (Lyonette Louis-Jacques & Jeanne S. Korman eds., 1996)
• Introduction to International Business Law: Legal Transactionsin a Global Economy (Gitelle Seer & Maria I. Smolka-Day eds., 1996)
• Contemporary Practice of Public International Law (Ellen G. Schaffer & Randall J. Snyder eds., 1997).

As part of my new FCIL librarian training, Kathie Price arranged for me to travel to Europe for a practicum working with the United Nations depository library documents collection at the Library of the Walther-Schücking-Institut für Internationales Recht at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany. I also visited libraries in Heidelberg, Brussels, and Geneva.

I  apprenticed with Latvia-born Adolf Sprudzs, who was then Foreign Law Librarian at the University of Chicago.  Mr. Sprudzs taught me how to select FCIL materials.  Suzanne Thorpe and I taught the first International and Foreign Legal Research course at Minnesota, and teaching helped me hone my FCIL skills further.  And I learned substantive and bibliographic FCIL info/knowledge from working with international law faculty and attending AALL FCIL-SIS, ASIL, IALL, and other conference programs and workshops.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

I am presently Foreign and International Law Librarian & Lecturer in Law at the D’Angelo Law Library, University of Chicago Law School.  I have been since Judith Wright hired me in August 1992 to become Mr. Sprudzs’ successor. Judith was also a leader in the initiative to train the next generation of FCIL librarians. And I continue to try to follow her and Kathie’s lead in mentoring and helping train new FCIL librarians.

Mr. Sprudzs was President of IALL and a scholarly international law librarian.   I seek to follow in his footsteps.  I focus my scholarship on identifying gaps in international legal research tools and trying to fill them as well as sharing information about new FCIL research resources.  I also promote and support FCIL scholarship generally.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

English!  Really, sometimes I lose my English and have to go find it… I grew up speaking Haitian Créole, and learned French in school, so I theoretically speak both. And I took courses in Spanish and German in college.  I speak Spanish well enough to be understood, and a smidgen of German.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

I’m very proud of having compiled the Law Lists (1992-2005) guide to law, library, and law library-related listservs, Usenet newsgroups, and e-newsletters. It enabled me to connect with diverse people across the globe and to help them connect with each other. I am also thrilled that the Int-Law listserv which I co-founded in 1991 with Mila Rush while I was at Minnesota is still active and being used by law librarians and others worldwide who work with and research FCIL materials.

I enjoyed chairing the FCIL-SIS during its 10th anniversary celebration (July 1995).  And am grateful to my FCIL colleagues for honoring me with the 2014 Daniel L. Wade Outstanding Service Award.  I admire Dan so much for his continued service to our SIS.  He’s such a great mentor!

I love helping others create new tools and resources as well as continue old ones.  I’m glad to have updated Dan Wade’s original 1993 “List of Foreign and International Law Librarians Who Have Expressed a Willingness to Help Non-Experts” with the Jumpstart guide.  This directory of people willing to help answer FCIL research questions by jurisdiction/region and topic is now being updated and maintained by Mary Rumsey.  If you have special expertise or willingness to help in researching the law of a particular country, international organization, or FCIL topic, please volunteer!

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

Diet Coke.

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

Any good doo-wop tune.  The Del Satins’ Remember (1961).  Pink Martini.  Konpa/Kompa/Compas (especially Tabou Combo). Salsa.  Bachata.  Merengue. (I like Señor Priego’s Échale Salsa mix)  Big Pun’s ode to Puerto Rico – 100% (edited language version). Funk.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

I wish that I could clone myself.  One Lyo would sleep all day and watch movies.  A couple of others would travel the world and learn new languages.  One will write a popular bestseller and become a kazillionaire.  One would be a trucker.  I wonder if I could get myself to stop cloning at five Lyos?

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you cannot go a day without?

Besides Diet Coke?  The Internet, particularly Twitter.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

I really enjoy being an FCIL librarian.  Having a specialty enables to you master an area even if you’re continually learning new things.  I also think being a generalist legal reference librarian is quite interesting and challenging too.  In my job, I get to do both general reference as well as specialize. The best of both worlds.  I never get bored.  And, since I’m still trying to improve, I always have a goal…

I enjoy meeting new people who enter the field and finding out what unique skill or life experience they bring to the mix.  Looking forward to meeting all of y’all at the 2016 AALL conference in Chicago!

Introducing…Hunter Whaley as the August FCIL Librarian of the Month (and Winner of the Newest FCIL Librarian Award)!

1. Where did you grow up?

I’ve been very fortunate to grow up all over the world because I was part of a military family. We moved to Naples, Italy when I was 5 and then to London, England when I was 8. When my dad retired from the Marine Corps, we moved to Tallahassee, Florida where I attended high school. Seeking a more metropolitan city, I went to Miami, Florida for university. After university, I taught English in Korea for a year before deciding to return to Florida for law school.

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

The short answer is a lifestyle choice. First and foremost, I love doing research. Finding that seemingly impossible source provides personal satisfaction. Combined with that, during law school I saw many of my friends and peers go into practice, work long hours, and pass on social activities to get work done. I know that law librarians must occasionally work longer hours to grade assignments or sit a late night reference desk shift, but I did not want this to be a normal occurrence. I’m very active outside of work and I don’t want my job to totally define who I am. Admittedly though, I do enjoy when friends introduce me as a lawbrarian.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

Because I had the opportunity to grow up abroad, I’ve always been interested in foreign and international issues. While I did not go to law school with an intent to study FCIL, I was always interested in discussing it with people who were.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

I began working for Columbia Law School in April 2015. I celebrated my three month work anniversary at AALL.

**Editor’s Note: Hunter won the Newest FCIL Librarian Award this year at the FCIL-SIS business meeting in Philly!  He models his prize in the picture above.**    

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

Currently working in FCIL, I’m a little embarrassed to say I do not speak a foreign language fluently. While I was in University, I studied Mandarin and loved it. I continue to try and improve my Mandarin skills by listening to language MP3s while I work and conversing with people when I have the opportunity.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

While I was earning my M.L.I.S. at Florida State University, I had the honor of working with Professor Larry Krieger on his law review article, What Makes Lawyers Happy?: A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, identifying lawyer well-being and happiness. His work and our talks reinforced my decision of career paths.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

Truffle oil. I’ll give anything with truffle oil a shot. Right now one of my favorite recipes is truffle oil macaroni and cheese.

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

Anything by Girl Talk.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t already have)?

Unrealistic ability: teleportation. It would be amazing to live anywhere in the world and commute instantly.

Realistic ability: photographic memory.

10 Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you *can* not go a day without?

There isn’t anything that I cannot go without. Some things may be unpleasant to be without (caffeine, friends, technology) but nothing is so detrimental that I could not go without it.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

As the school year approaches, I hope everyone has a great year!

Introducing…Mary Rumsey as the July FCIL Librarian of the Month

1. Where did you grow up?

I was born in Chicago, moved to Tennessee and then Maryland, but grew up mostly in Wisconsin. I went to college at UW-Madison, a great experience.

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

I tried a few other careers first—lawyer, Westlaw database developer, stay-at-home parent, elementary school teacher. Then, my sister became a reference librarian after spending several years in publishing. She loved it and I thought I’d try it too. Law librarianship combines my interest in law with my love of teaching and of learning new things.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

I have been interested in international law since I was in junior high and the US bombed Cambodia as part of the Vietnam War. I read that the bombing was illegal, which made me realize that there was such a thing as international law (even though it is often ignored).

In law school I had a class on comparative family law, taught by Mary Ann Glendon. The foreign variations on marriage and other family law institutions fascinated me and made me curious about other differences in foreign legal systems.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

I’ve been working at Willamette University School of Law for less than a year, after 14 years at the University of Minnesota.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

I speak French with a horrendous Midwestern accent, and a bit of Spanish here and there. Fortunately, I find it much easier to read foreign languages than to speak them. I took a class on reading German for academic purposes and, with a good legal dictionary, can bludgeon my way through German texts.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

Somehow, this question reminds me of the contest for the tallest midget –or I guess we say “little person” now.  I suppose I would pick editing a couple of books on human rights with David Weissbrodt at Minnesota. The most fun achievement was writing an FCIL coursebook with my professional idol, Marci Hoffman.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

Definitely chocolate.

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

Well, lots of songs—today I’d pick Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” 

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

I’ve always thought the Vulcan Death Grip would be a handy skill. Or the ability to listen to people saying stupid things without rolling my eyes.

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you cannot go a day without?

Reading books. I am a library junkie.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

As I’m becoming less active in FCIL-SIS stuff, I’m pleased to see all the new[er] FCIL librarians getting involved. And a quick plug for the FCIL Jumpstart List that Lyo Louis-Jacques created; if anyone has language or subject-matter expertise to share, please email me and I’ll add you as a possible resource for FCIL research.

Introducing…Anne Mostad-Jensen as the June FCIL Librarian of the Month

1. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Kelliher, a very small town (population 262) in Northern Minnesota. It is an hour south of the Canadian border and 17 miles from Red Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake enclosed in one state.

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

I did things a little backwards. I got my MLIS degree first. After finishing that degree I wanted an additional challenge and was interested in copyright issues, so I decided to go to law school. While in law school I told myself that I would be open to new opportunities and experiences outside librarianship. So I spent two summers in China – one summer at an incubator and venture capital firm and another summer at a large Chinese-Australian law firm. I really enjoyed these experiences. They were exciting, challenging, and I learned a lot. But during those experiences I always felt like I was just visiting and when I am in a library I feel like I am home. So when I graduated from law school I immediately started to apply for jobs in law libraries. (Though I did take and pass the California Bar Exam, because I thought it was important to understand the final step law school graduates go through before entering the legal profession.)

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

I think my interest in foreign, comparative, and international law started before I even went to law school. While pursuing my MLIS I took International Librarianship. As part of the course we attended the IFLA conference in Quebec City. While there I had had a conversation with Emilija Banionyte, who was on the EIFL Advisory Board (Electronic Information for Libraries), about global issues relating to access to information – especially trying to negotiate fair licensing agreements in Eastern European countries. I think this really planted the seed with regards to my interest in foreign, comparative, and international law. But those interests were nurtured and encouraged by Mary Sexton, the FCIL librarian at Santa Clara University School of Law, while I was in law school and following law school. Mary Rumsey and Heidi Frostestad Kuehl have also been very helpful in answering any and all questions I have had about FCIL librarianship.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

My current employer is Concordia University School of Law in Boise, ID. I have worked here since October 2014. But I just accepted a position as Head of Faculty Services at the University of North Dakota School of Law in Grand Forks, ND.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

Not fluently. My best foreign language is Danish. I speak a little Danish and understand most things I watch and read in Danish. I also speak a little Mandarin. But again, I can read more Mandarin than I can speak. If pressed, I can understand a decent amount of Swedish and Norwegian.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

My most significant achievement professional achievement so far is having a doctrinal faculty member be impressed enough with my contribution to a project that he invited me to co-author a law review article.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

I have a lot of food weaknesses. But I think my biggest food weakness is lefse.

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

Robyn’s Dancing on My Own is the first thing that comes to mind.  If you are a runner and like to run to slower music, I would recommend Antony and the Johnson’s album The Crying Light. I once ran five miles out of town on a rural Minnesotan road listening to this album without even realizing how far I had gone. Until I saw a deer leg. Just a deer leg. And realized I was over approximately two miles from the nearest house. The trip back was not nearly as enjoyable as the run out of town and I instituted a policy that I would never run more than one mile out of town in any direction.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

The seemingly universal desire amongst all FCIL librarians – the ability to speak more foreign languages. And the ability to fly.

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you could not go a day without?

Is coffee a basic necessity? If not, coffee.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

I have a twin sister who is also has an MLIS degree, but she is not a law librarian. But she does speak and read Icelandic, so she would likely be willing to help if anybody ever needs help translating or finding Icelandic legal resources.

Introducing…Alison Shea as the May FCIL Librarian of the Month

1. Where did you grow up?

If you have ever had a conversation with me or walked into my office, chances are you already know I was born and raised in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin – I enjoy taking every opportunity I can to extol the virtues of Wauwatosa/ Milwaukee/ Wisconsin/ the Midwest generally.  Hands down my favorite place(s) in the world.

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

I decided I would pursue a career in libraries while working at the Wauwatosa Public Library in high school.  During my three years there, I realized that working in a library was something I really enjoyed and felt good at; I’m tremendously grateful to everyone I worked with, especially my supervisor Eva, for helping start me on the path to becoming a librarian.  In college I was a political science major, so law librarianship seemed like a good fit.  I credit the AALL website with helping me identify the joint JD/MLS degree program at CUA, which allowed me to quickly move forward with my career goals.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

My experiences studying abroad helped solidify my longstanding interest in pursuing a career with an international component – I did a semester each in Dublin and London through Boston University as an undergrad, and then two summers in Dublin through University of Tulsa in law school.  During my time abroad I had the opportunity to intern at some really interesting places, and my experiences at these placements taught me so much about both the similarities and differences of doing the same job at home and abroad.   Having this perspective has influenced my work with LLM students, as well as with professional associations in other countries.  My legal experiences in particular exposed me to the importance of European Union law, which has definitely been a professional focus in my career (don’t forget to register for our EU Legal Research workshop at AALL this summer!).

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

Fordham University School of Law.  8 years.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

I took 7 years of Spanish, but I speak it with a Wisconsin accent so I’m not sure that counts.  I’ve also taken some classes in French, Irish, Polish, and Russian, but haven’t achieved fluency in any of them – although I’m pretty good at transliterating Russian, which is a useful skill to have.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

Being awarded the FCIL-SIS Daniel L. Wade Outstanding Service Award last year was a huge honor – knowing that my work is valued and appreciated by my FCIL colleagues means so much to me.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

Cheese (see #1).

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance?

Obviously singing and dancing are not allowed in the library, but I have on occasion caught myself stomping my feet, bobbing my head, and warbling in my best Scottish accent to a few of my favorites.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

Like so many other FCIL librarians, I wish I had the time and money to learn more languages. I’m always inspired by my grandmother, who showed me the value of learning the language and culture of other countries – she could speak 5 languages and earned a master’s degree in Russian from Northwestern in the 1960s!

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you cannot go a day month without?

I can’t seem to go a month without getting on a plane.  Which is really interesting, considering I was terrified of flying from about 1993-2001; one of the things that help me get over my fear was reading literally every book on air travel in the Wauwatosa Public Library.  If anyone out there suffers from a similar fear, I highly suggest checking out this book – there are too many excellent international conferences to let this fear keep you at home!

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

As recently elected Vice Chair/Chair-elect of FCIL-SIS, I look forward to working with librarians both at home and abroad to continue the phenomenal work of all of the FCIL luminaries who have given their time and talent to make foreign, comparative and international law librarianship such a visible and important branch of our profession!

Introducing…Eugene Hsue as the March FCIL Librarian of the Month

1. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Vestal, a small town in beautiful upstate New York. As a kid, my backyard was a fantastic nature preserve.  Along with my friends, we would hike up hills, build forts, scout for waterfalls in the creek, and stumble upon grazing deer. It was a great place to grow up.

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

While I was a law student, I worked as a student worker at Temple Law Library. There, the Director, John Necci, and the Head of Reference, Larry Reilly, mentored me through the ropes of answering questions at the Circulation Desk. I grew to really love helping people find exactly what they needed.

John and Larry started strongly hinting that I should think of law librarianship as a career. And they shared so much of what they know with me. Before their retirement, each of them had been in law librarianship for more than thirty years. I am very thankful for their openness and generosity – these traits helped me discover a warm and helpful law library community.  I am grateful to have found great informal mentors in David Mao, Greg Lambert, Wei Luo, Joan Liu, Sergio Stone, and Al Dong. And I’ve had the chance to work with amazing peers internationally, like Michèle Hou of the ICRC and Jim Hart at the University of Cincinnati.

Second, I love research, both doing it and teaching it. I love the rush of identifying the seminal article for a point of law or watching a student’s eyes light up.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

While I was an undergraduate at Cornell, I lived in a great dorm called the Language House, which at that time was housed in a beautiful Anna Comstock Hall. During the two years I spent in the French House, I made close friends from France, China, Taiwan, Japan, Italy, and Latin America. We would often stay up late at night discussing the rich differences between our cultures, languages, music and movies.  This gave me a passion to truly comprehend the world beyond my own country.

Then, during my third year there, I had the opportunity to study at Jussieu, Paris VII. One of the courses I took was the history of the European Union. Our teacher from Sciences Po, Marc Germanangue, lectured superbly. He told a riveting tale of the negotiations and friendship between Jean Monnet and Konrad Adenauer, which resulted in the CECA. It was my first introduction to a supranational organization.

After graduating, I went to live and work in China and Taiwan for two and a half years, in order to master Mandarin. When I came back to study at Temple Law, I took every foreign and international law class I could find: Japanese Law, WTO Law, Israeli Constitutional Law, among others.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there?

I work at Temple Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia. I have been here full time since November 2008. If you include the time I was a student worker – wow! – I started that in Spring of 2005.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages?

I speak French, Mandarin, and a little Taiwanese and Italian. I’m learning Latin. I find learning languages to be super fun. It’s like doing a crossword puzzle for me.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement?

I’m still a “young” law librarian, so I still have some achievements ahead of me! However, there are two dear to my heart.

Along with a team of six research assistants, I translated two law review articles from English to Chinese. The reason why I view it as significant is because I learned a lot:  how to motivate a team, communicate expectations, and have everyone accomplish goals by set deadlines. I also learned a lot of Chinese terminology in many disciplines. For example, how do you say Rawls’ “veil of uncertainty” in Chinese? Good times doing research!

Second – during my second year as a FCIL, Temple’s International and Comparative Law Journal gave me a tie and a card as a gift of appreciation for helping them find sources. The tie is sharp and smart. I was touched that they noticed I like to dress well.

7. What is your biggest food weakness?

I like to try out cheap eats and street food in Asia and Europe. I’m fond of oatmeal raisin cookies.

8. What song makes you want to get up to dance and sing?

This one. And this French one! Definitely this Taiwanese one too.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)?

I would love to develop mobile apps to view rare and ancient documents, like the Vatican Secret Archive’s Lux In Arcana app. This requires mastering PHP, Python, ancient Greek, Latin, and classical Chinese. I would love to develop skills to bring cutting edge technology and the ancient world together.

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you not go a day without?

Every day I try to make my baby girl laugh! Isabella is nine months old now. I cannot go a day without seeing her gummy smile.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

I look forward to reconnecting with my FCIL colleagues in Philly this July. There are so many foodie spots to discover!

Introducing…Ellen Schaffer as the February FCIL Librarian of the Month

1. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Manhattan and never thought I would live anywhere else until I did.  Since 1973 when I left NYC, I’ve lived in 4 different countries!

2. Why did you select law librarianship as a career?

I first selected librarianship as a career that would allow me to use my languages. It was only later that I was fortunate enough to find my place in international law librarianship. I was working as a reference librarian at the Organization of American States and was asked to give a presentation on Latin American business resources at a Special Libraries Association’s annual meeting. I met Igor Kavass there. It’s a rather long story, but the short version is that with his advice, I ended up as the Foreign Law Librarian at the University of Miami. After one year there, I moved back to Washington DC as the International and Foreign Law Librarian at the Georgetown University Law Center. Every position I have held has allowed me to use my languages and has encouraged my interest in international relations.

3. When did you develop an interest in foreign, comparative, and international law?

I spent summers during high school in Oaxaca, Mexico and was a Latin American Studies major in college in Mexico and in the U.S. I was always interested in Latin America and foreign languages. My years working at the Organization of American States introduced me to the “world” of FCIL subjects.

4. Who is your current employer? How long have you worked there? 

After leaving the United Nations in Chile, I returned to the Washington DC area where I had lived and worked for so many years. In September 2012, I began to work part-time on projects at the Pence Law Library at American University’s Washington College of Law.

5. Do you speak any foreign languages? 

Principally Romance languages, but in particular, Spanish, some Portuguese, some French and then, some German.

6. What is your most significant professional achievement? 

There are two things that come to mind. I would mention the development of the international law collection at the Georgetown University Law Center’s law library. Building that collection over a 15 year period was a wonderful experience that taught me a great deal about foreign, comparative and international law. It was an exciting time to be at Georgetown and to work with a stellar faculty and library staff.

Then, I need to mention the FCIL-SIS Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians. In 2001, when I expressed my interest in establishing the grant to AALL’s Executive Director, there was no way to know how meaningful the grant would become to both its recipients and to the Association’s membership. Over the past years, there have been recipients from the Kyrgyz Republic, the Philippines, Georgia, Egypt, China, Australia, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Argentina, India, Norway and The Netherlands. We should know who the 2015 recipient is in the near future.

The grant recipients have all shared their knowledge and experience with other law librarians by making a presentation at an FCIL-sponsored meeting or event. Then, after the conference, the recipients have provided short article or report for the Fall issue of the FCIL-SIS newsletter. One welcome benefit that has developed over the years is that when one of our AALL members has had a need for help in locating information or publications from one of the countries represented by the Grant’s recipients, they have invariably been helpful and generous with their time and assistance.

7. What is your biggest food weakness? 

Anything salty.

8. What song makes you want to get up and sing/dance? 

Salsa.

9. What ability or skill do you most wish you had (that you don’t have already)? 

Over the past years, it would have been to know more German! At this point though, I would say that I wish I had learned to play a musical instrument.

10. Aside from the basic necessities, what is one thing you not go a day without? 

Well, I would say coffee … but for me, that would be a basic necessity.

11. Anything else you would like to share with us?

Carpe diem. You never know when a wonderful and totally unexpected opportunity might be just around the corner.