Best way for a lawyer to become a law librarian?

September 5, 2008 12:02 PM

After practicing law for six years, I'm very interested in becoming a law librarian. I'm struggling with the jump; especially the decision to go back to school.

All the good advice about library schools on the green encourages me.

I worked in the law library throughout law school as a research assistant and loved it. After the ups and downs of small-firm and solo practice, I think I'd like to get back into the library. Going back to school for a library degree seems like a good next step.

Is an MLS or other library degree, in fact, a good next step?

If so, how will my choice of school and program affect my prospects? I'm close enough to the University of North Texas that it is my first choice out of pure convenience. Should I consider other schools based on the specialty concentration of law librarianship?

I would also appreciate your thoughts on part-time vs. full-time and distance vs. classroom programs, especially as they relate to what I perceive (and correct me if I'm wrong) as a specialized interest in library school.

At the risk of being too open-ended, I would also love to hear success stories or cautionary tales from anyone who has made the transition from law practice to law librarianship.

posted by GPF to education (13 comments total)

You'd want to go to a school with both a library school and a law school. Having hovered around both professions, I'd say that's your best bet.
posted by Ironmouth at 12:13 PM on September 5, 2008

An MLS is a necessary next step to law librarianship. I'm excited to see someone choosing to do this, and since you have library experience and know you like it, I think you'll be happy with your choice.

With your experience as an attorney (and your JD), you will not necessarily need to go into a program with law-specific classes. Generally, such schools only offer one or two classes on that, anyway, and they're geared to people with no legal background. (This is the reporter system, this is a digest, etc.)

Unlike law school, the choice of school doesn't affect job prospects to any great extent. What does affect your prospects is the amount of experience you have. Your previous law library experience is a very good start, and will help you get a job while you're still in school.

I recommend doing school part time, and working full time. I find that where you worked during library school is far more important than where you went to school. You're making connections in your job that help you network in the field. It doesn't add that much longer to your time in school, and you have that much more money. If you can find a job in a law library, it makes no difference whether you have legal research classes. If you try for a paraprofessional job and make it clear that you're in school already, that's a huge plus for you.

As a full time employee doing your masters part time, you will find your librarian co-workers to be very helpful. They love to see someone following in their footsteps. They are generally happy to help with assignments and with advice.

I can't speak to classroom v. distance education, as they didn't have distance education when I was doing my degree. There are a lot of librarians in my area (Central Florida) that did theirs online through USF, and it doesn't seem to be treated any differently.

And now, my experience:

I went to a top 10 law school, and figured out by my third year that I was not an adversarial person, and I would be miserable in legal practice. I never did practice, but went straight into a masters program. I started out full time, then found some part time jobs, then found I couldn't get any day classes second semester, so I figured I might as well work full time and finish school part time.

I was busy all the freakin' time. The first year especially, I had all this HOMEWORK to do! I was used to law school, where your grade was based on your final exam, and you didn't have these little assignments that were worth twenty points here and fifty points there. That took getting used to.

I kind of fell out of sight for a couple years. I was either working, in class, or studying. But when it was over, I got a job, and suddenly I had all this free time, and I was a professional!

I enjoy my work a lot. I've worked in a firm and at a law school. Of the two, I prefer the law school, but that's just a personal preference. If you can, make the choice early. It's hard to switch between the two. Firm librarians think that school librarians can't handle the pace, and school librarians think that firm librarians don't know how to teach. (These are, obviously, gross generalizations.)

One caveat: there is an invisible line. You don't see it as an attorney, but it's there. It's that line between attorney/staff (or in law school, faculty/staff) that makes you Less Than, in some people's eyes. It's ridiculous and frustrating, but it's there. When I started work at a law firm as a professional librarian, I thought I'd be treated as a colleague. I was treated like the help. It's a particular form of snobbishness, and I dislike it intensely.

Overall, this has been a very good career choice for me. Not only am I a good librarian, but my legal research experience would help me be a good lawyer, should I decide to give that a try. I understand how the law fits together and where to find it much better than a first-year associate straight out of law school.
posted by cereselle at 12:51 PM on September 5, 2008 [3 favorites]

There are two law librarian schools worth a damn. UW, Seattle, and UT (not sure which one, Austin?). However UT was very very well known and respected because of Roy Mersky's work and he recenty passed away. Librarians who I have talked to have been unclear on whether his unique mentorship program is going to continue in the same way it did when he was alive. That said, if you're nearby there, I'd go there.

Law librarians seem to me to be some of the happiest librarians out there. If you can handle the stressful workload it's useful well-paying work (relative to other librarian jobs). You might like to look into the AALL, the professional organization for law librarians to get more information. I think you can learn a lot browsing around there.
posted by jessamyn at 12:54 PM on September 5, 2008

An MLS is a necessary next step. (Disclosure: I have an MLS and I work in a law firm library, but I do not have a law degree)

If you're looking to stay in your area geographically, then I think UNT will end up being more valuable to you than a "better" library school just because of the networking and connections you'll make. Plus, there is not really a Harvard of library schools since it's a professional degree and mostly (in my experience) you're there to get your piece of paper and move on. And UNT does have a "Law Librarian and Legal Informatics Specialist" track. so they definitely will have courses that speak to your interests.

I think part-time is probably better, because the classes themselves are way less important than developing on the job skills. So if you could get some more library or research-specific experience while going to school part time, that would be better. I'm wary, however, of distance/online programs. They still seem a bit sketchy to me, and I would take someone with a distance degree less seriously as an employment prospect than I would someone with an "on-site" degree.

Also, keep in mind your career goals - are you wanting to end up in a law school library? If so, you're probably going to want to think about things like publishing articles if possible. A lot of law school librarians are treated like faculty. Or are you thinking law firm library or in house law librarian? In that case, publishing becomes less important, but things like competetive intelligence and business research skills become more important. Just some thoughts to keep in mind.
posted by marginaliana at 12:56 PM on September 5, 2008

IANAL(ibrarian), but I work in a law library and am a part-time library grad student.

I think that in most firms, the title "Librarian" is going to require and MLS or equivalent ALA-accredited degree (MLIS, MISt, etc.). Without it, you could potentially get into a larger firm's library as a "research lawyer" or something along those lines.

Ironmouth is right to suggest a school with both library and law schools. Some even have combined law/library programs (see U of T's combined JD/MISt). Obviously you don't need to re-do law school, but a faculty that's already laid out a path like that will certainly have the kind of library courses you'd be looking for.

I'll also second cereselle's point about lawyer/not-lawyer snobbishness, but this is more the case at some firms than others.
posted by onshi at 12:56 PM on September 5, 2008

And cereselle is so so so right about the invisible line. You will be staff, you will not be "one of them."
posted by marginaliana at 1:00 PM on September 5, 2008

Oh, and this, a million times this. Any extra professional activities you do in library school go on your resume, and are taken seriously by hiring committees. Continue doing professional activities in your career, and you have a much better chance of switching from one setting to another, should you wish to. With only law firm librarian experience, I interviewed at one of the top law schools, and the director said right out that the deciding factor in even interviewing me was because I'd been on local library committees and had headed one subcommittee.

So, in order to keep your options as open as possible, do extracurricular things.
posted by cereselle at 1:14 PM on September 5, 2008

(I didn't get that job, though. Professional activities will only take you so far.)

I'm happy to answer questions through MeMail if you come up with any later on.
posted by cereselle at 1:19 PM on September 5, 2008

Thanks for the responses so far.

"You don't see it as an attorney[,]" but "[y]ou will be staff, you will not be 'one of them.'"

I've read in other places that law firms specifically avoid JDs and licensed attorneys for librarian positions. Perhaps that view maintains that line and to avoids the "upstart" librarian looking for a backdoor into the attorney track. I don't have the private law library experience to evaluate that view.
posted by GPF at 1:36 PM on September 5, 2008

If you already have a law degree, don't worry too much about whether you get the MLS/MSI/MIS/MLwhatever at a good "law librarian school". Getting a decent library education and working in the law library at your school (because of course you will listen to Ironmouth) will do you no end of good. Also join the AALL as a student -- that will help you build up your network a lot.

(Also be aware re: UT that Roy Mirsky was a pretty controversial figure -- a lot of people in the profession have really strong feelings pro or con, so being identified with his program may have some consequences. In addition to a great education, I mean, no argument there.)
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 2:45 PM on September 5, 2008

I just started an MLS program to become a law librarian, so I'm thrilled to see someone else thinking about the same thing! (Provided we don't compete for the same jobs.)

Like I said, I just started, but I will say that library school is easier than law school by several orders of magnitude, so definitely don't worry about being overwhelmed.

I work part-time at a science library as well and was advised by my big boss to take as many classes as possible in information science/computer science, as that's really where the future is.

MeMail me if you want and we can commiserate.

Also, I had no idea Roy Mersky passed away (I'm a UT law grad). Jonathan Pratter saved my bacon more than once when I worked on the international law journal, and I'm forever in his debt. He's kind of my inspiration, in fact.
posted by orrnyereg at 3:33 PM on September 5, 2008

I'm late to the conversation, but figured I'd pop in as I'm a relatively new law librarian myself (at a law school). I'd definitely agree with the sentiment to go to a library school with a law school, but only if its feasible from a cost standpoint to you. Getting law library experience is going to be the most helpful thing to you for getting a job in the profession. Believe it or not, its a somewhat small world of professionals, where everyone knows someone, and getting a toehold into that network is hugely helpful for getting a job.

The annoying, non-so-secret aspect of law librarianship is that no one really cares where you get your MLS, how you get it (distance or in-person), or how well you did in the program - those few letters are just the price of admission to the profession if you already have a JD. That said, having both degrees will make you a very attractive candidate in the academic law library world - there's a definite trend towards dual degrees, and looking at the job postings on the AALL Job Hotline, many of the academic spots are now requiring it.

If there's an in-state library school or inexpensive distance program available to you, I'd perhaps go with that and get an internship at a law library nearby. While there are definitely some well-respected programs in law librarianship, the existence of both a library and law school on a single campus doesn't necessarily indicate they have a strong program for producing law librarians. Just go somewhere where you can get the opportunity to intern/volunteer at a law library - many law schools that don't have relationships with library schools are still more than willing to take and mentor law library interns.

Lastly, as a career move, going into law librarianship was probably the best thing I ever did. I really enjoy the work, and the people work with. While sometimes challenging and stressful, its rewarding and I still have a better work-life balance than probably the vast amount of the legal profession.
posted by dicaxpuella at 8:47 AM on September 6, 2008

By way of follow up, I'm headed to Seattle for the program at UW. I'd be happy to discuss my decision with anyone interested. Of course, my opinion will be much better informed in a few months, once I actually get started.
posted by GPF at 6:21 AM on July 24