Democratizing Law Librarianship: Reducing Barriers to Entry through Alternative Pathways to the Profession and Increased Support to Students. A Call to Action

Abstract

Law librarianship is a constantly evolving profession driven by the evolution of law practice, legal education, government, and law itself. Changes in these drivers are in turn influenced by factors such as technology, culture, client needs, American Bar Association Standards, bar exams, diversity and access efforts, faculty research, instructional trends, and law school rankings. Law librarians proudly keep up with these changes—and even stay ahead of them—as we impart new knowledge and skills to users of law libraries and legal information resources. As we proceed through the third decade of the twenty-first century, the legal information profession is engaged in dialogue about the perpetually shrinking pools of qualified candidates for law librarian positions. Additionally, law librarians have been lamenting for decades that the legal information profession does not accurately reflect the diversity in our communities. The literature reflects that those conversations began in earnest in the 1970s and continue today. This article addresses both compelling issues and offers concrete strategies to tackle them simultaneously, thoughtfully, and intentionally. The entire profession is invited to play a role in this effort.

Keywords:

• law libraries
• law librarianship
• library education
• legal information
• university demographics

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Judith Lihosit, director of the University of San Diego Law Library, for the invitation to participate in their DEI Symposium in Spring 2023, where an early draft of this article was presented and invaluable feedback received; and to Julie Graves Krishnaswami of Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library for providing invaluable suggestions to make this article stronger.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The terms law librarian and legal information professionals are used interchangeably in this article. In practice, legal information professionals in the law firm setting may have titles such as “research analyst” or “knowledge manager” or “competitive intelligence researcher” to reflect the work they perform more accurately. Nonetheless, an MLIS is generally required for these variously named legal information positions as well as for law librarians. Law librarians and legal information professionals move across the various types of law libraries without much difficulty.

2 The following quotations are taken from respondents to a 2023 survey on hiring experiences in 2021–2022 conducted by the authors. “In my 35+ years in this field, I've never seen such a dearth of qualified candidates. We're in trouble.” “The number of applicants for our positions was much, much lower for our recent positions.” “The number of applicants for these 3 positions was quite lower than what we have seen with previous postings, even with a popular library school program in same city.” “Not enough dual degree (MLS/JD) librarians available. We did not require the MLS.” “Comparing the size of the pool to previous searches, the pool has never been this small. Ten years ago we had 40 or 50 in a pool sometimes. It has slowly decreased over time, but has never been this small.” All submissions on file with the authors.

3 Job postings to AALL Job Center: 2021, 282 job postings; 2022, 361 job postings; 2023. 114 job postings through Apr. 17. Full data set with breakdown of job types in Table 1.

4 AALL membership has dropped from its apex of 5,193 members in 2002 to the nadir of 3,538 members in 2021. Current and historical (from 2000) membership data from AALL and the American Library Association (ALA), for comparison purposes, are available in Tables 2 and 3. Data from 2000–2014 available at James M. Donovan, Diversity: How Is AALL Doing?, 109 Law Libr. J. 7, 11 (2017).

5 The term demographic cliff denotes “an anticipated drop in high-school graduates in 2026 or 2027 (depending on which model one uses), a result of falling birthrates that followed the financial crash of 2008.” Angela B. Fulk, ‘Is this Armageddon?’ The Demographic Cliff is Upon Us, Chron. Higher Educ., Jan. 26, 2023, www.chronicle.com/article/is-this-armageddo.

6 Id.

7 The following quotations are taken from respondents to a 2023 survey on hiring experiences in 2021–2022 conducted by the authors. “Very small pool. Had previous failed searches in time period prior to 2021 and 2022. So we modified job requirements when we posted in 2022.” “If the candidate had not accepted, we would have had another failed search.” “We reposted the position to eliminate the dual-degree requirement and replace it with a 1 degree (JD or MLS) + experience requirement.” “We ended up hiring a new graduate for one of our positions, where the job posting had requested 3-5 years’ experience.” “We reposted the position to eliminate the dual-degree requirement.” “No qualified applicants.” All submissions on file with the authors.

8 Alyssa Thurston, Addressing the “Emerging Majority”: Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Law Librarianship in the Twenty-First Century, 104 Law Libr. J. 359, 368 (2012).

9 Id. at 363–4

10 Id. at 364-5.

11 Id. at 366-7.

12 Id. at 377-80

13 Ronald Wheeler, Let’s Talk about Race, 106 Law Libr. J. 267 (2014).

14 Id. at 271-2

15 Id. at 273.

16 James M. Donovan, Diversity: How Is AALL Doing?, 109 Law Libr. J. 7, 47 (2017).

17 Id.

18 Id. at 35–8. Full data set in Table 4.

19 Id. at 41, 45. Full data set in Table 5.

20 AALL Diversity & Inclusion Committee, www.aallnet.org/about-us/who-we-are/committees-juries/diversity-inclusion-committee. (last visited 19 Feb. 2023).

21 AALL’s Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Updates & Resources, www.aallnet.org/about-us/press-room/anti-racism-diversity-equity-inclusion. (last visited 4 May 2023).

22 AALL Strategic Plan, “GOAL 3: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Recognize systemic barriers to DEI and commit to building an association that embraces differences, lifts-up members, and removes barriers to full participation in AALL and the legal information profession.”; “GOAL 4: Pipeline to the Profession: Identify, engage, and guide future legal information professionals.” www.aallnet.org/about-us/what-we-do/strategic-plan. (last visited 10 May 2023).

23 The IDEAS Special Committee Report is not yet available to the public. It is available through the AALL Boardbook and on file with the authors.

24 AALL Pipeline to the Profession (P2P) Special Committee, www.aallnet.org/about-us/who-we-are/committees-juries/p2psc. (last visited 20 Feb. 2023) “PURPOSE: The Pipeline to the Profession Special Committee will focus on identifying the challenges and potential solutions to increasing the pipeline to law librarianship in line with the 2022-2025 strategic plan. The committee’s recommendations will assist the Executive Board in determining where resources need to be allocated in future years.”

25 Black Law Librarians Special Interest Section, www.aallnet.org/bllsis. (last visited 9 May 2023).

26 AALL Educating and Diversifying the Next Generation Caucus, https://community.aallnet.org/gennext/aboutus/purpos. (last visited 9 May 2023).

27 Full data set in Table 4. Allied professions data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which defines minority as Black, Hispanic, and Asian. Law Librarian data is from AALL and is broader in that it includes all racial/ethnic minorities.

28 Full data set in Table 5. Student data: 2022 First-year class enrollment at ABA-accredited law school: 36.6% minority; 2021 enrollment in ALA-accredited MLIS programs: 22.9%. Susan L. Krinsky (LSAC), Incoming Class of 2022: A Major Advance in Diversity, More Work to Do, www.lsac.org/blog/incoming-class-2022-major-advance-diversity-more-work-to-d.; Association of Library & Information Science Education (ALISE), Annual Statistical Reports, Table II-2: ALA-Accredited Enrollment, 2021, https://ali.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/statistical_reports/2022/ALISE%202022%20Statistical%20Report%20final%20July%202022.pd.

29 Ella F. Washington, The Five Stages of DEI Maturity, Harv. Bus. Rev., Nov./Dec. 2022, at 2, https://hbr.org/2022/11/the-five-stages-of-dei-maturit.

30 Id.

31 Id. at 6.

32 Id.

33 Id. at 7

34 Mary Tuma, National Law Group Ditches Texas Over Lege’s Anti-LGBTQ Hate, Aus. Chron., July 14, 2017, www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2017-07-14/national-law-group-ditches-texas-over-leges-anti-lgbtq-hate.

35 Patrick Svitek, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs “Sanctuary Cities” Bill into Law, Tex. Trib., May 7, 2017, www.texastribune.org/2017/05/07/abbott-signs-sanctuary-cities-bill.

36 Washington, supra note NOTEREF _Ref134113121 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 30, at 8.

37 AALL Strategic Plan, “GOAL 3: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Recognize systemic barriers to DEI and commit to building an association that embraces differences, lifts-up members, and removes barriers to full participation in AALL and the legal information profession.” www.aallnet.org/about-us/what-we-do/strategic-plan. (last visited 10 May 2023).

38 Discussion Thread, Update on adding language re gender neutral bathrooms to site selection policy, https://community.aallnet.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=818f0077-c138-4b9c-83d6-07a0ed9c2dac&CommunityKey=e66efaa2-ad58-4c87-abf2-c7f74adafe23#bm818f0077-c138-4b9c-83d6-07a0ed9c2da. (thread available to AALL members only).

39 Dwight King et al., Profiling Minority Law Libraries: A Report on the 1992–1993 Survey, 87 Law. Libr. J. 247, 272 (1995).

40 Albert Brecht & Robin Mills, Minorities Employed in Law Libraries, 71 Law. Libr. J. 283, 288 (1978).

41 King et al., supra note NOTEREF _Ref128476074 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 40, at 272.

42 AALL leadership very helpfully and willingly responded to the authors’ numerous requests for data and clarifications. However, AALL has no historical jobs data prior to mid-2020, for example, when a new jobs platform was implemented. Further, simple data, such as historical membership data, are not available on the AALL website like it is on the websites of ALA, ALISE, LSAC, and other allied professions.

43 Washington, supra note NOTEREF _Ref134113121 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 30, at 9.

44 Id. at 5.

45 American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division & Access Lex Institute Center for Legal Education Excellence, Student Debt: The Holistic Impact on Today’s Young Lawyer 4 (2021).

46 National Center for Education Statistics, Trends in Student Loan Debt for Graduate School Completers in The Conditions of Education 28 (2018), https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018144.pd. (finding the average debt for law school rising from $82,400 in 2000 to $145,500 by 2016).

47 Id. at 26.

48 Itunu Sofidiya, Student Loan Relief and the Value of Black Student Life in Notes Between Us, Nov. 28, 2022, https://notesbetweenus.com/2022/11/28/student-loan-relief-and-the-value-of-black-student-life. This is echoed in the ABA study, supra note NOTEREF _Ref132704491 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 46, at 5, which finds that 65.5% of Black law students graduate with over $100,000 in educational debt compared to 55.2% of white students.

49 King et al., supra note NOTEREF _Ref128476074 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 40, at 272.

50 Id. at 262.

51 King et al., supra note NOTEREF _Ref128476074 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 40, at 270.

52 See Teresa Y. Neely & Lorna Peterson, Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Academic and Research Librarians: The Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement of Librarians of Color, A White Paper by the ACRL Board of Directors Diversity Task Force; Thomas Gold, Pipeline and Retention of Teachers of Color: Systems and Structures Impeding Growth and Sustainability in the United States, http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12265/9.; and Anne Ford, Underrepresented, Underemployed: In the Library-Job Search, Some Face Special Barriers, Library Journal, Nov. 1, 2018, https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/11/01/underrepresented-underemployed.

53 Neely, supra note NOTEREF _Ref132700193 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 53, at 7.

54 Ford, supra note NOTEREF _Ref132700193 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 53.

55 Neely, supra note NOTEREF _Ref132700193 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 53, at 23.

56 Joan S. Howland, Diversity Deferred, 90 Law Libr. J. 561, 572 (1998).

57 Özlem Sensoy & Robin DiAngelo. “We Are All for Diversity, but…”: How Faculty Hiring Committees Reproduce Whiteness and Practical Suggestions for How They Can Change 97 Harv. Ed. Rev. 557, 566–8 (2017).

58 Fairygodboss, Inc. The Grim Reality of Being a Female Job Seeker, Fairygodboss.com, 2017 https://res.cloudinary.com/fairygodboss/raw/upload/v1518462741/production/The_Grim_Reality_of_Being_A_Female_Job_Seeker.pd. However, smiling too much during a job interview can harm one’s chances of success. See, e.g., Mollie A. Ruben, Judith A. Hall & Marianne Schmid Mast. Smiling in a Job Interview: When Less Is More, 155(2) J. Soc. Psych 107 (2015), DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2014.972312. “In sum, our results suggest that job applicants cannot blindly follow a behavioral rule in order to increase the chances of getting hired. Id. at 123. 

59 Id. at 568–9.

60 Neely, supra note NOTEREF _Ref132700193 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 53, at 23.

61 Debra Cassens Weiss, This Law School Will Accept the GRE from Applicants; Will Others Follow? ABA Journal, Feb. 24, 2016, www.abajournal.com/news/article/this_law_school_will_accept_the_gre_from_applicants_will_others_follo. See also University of Arizona, College of Law, UA Becomes First Law School to Open Admissions to All GRE® Test Takers after Study Reveals Test Validity, Feb. 10, 2016. “The University of Arizona College of Law will now accept either GRE® General Test or Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores from all applicants.” https://law.arizona.edu/news/2016/02/ua-becomes-first-law-school-open-admissions-all-gre%C2%AE-test-takers-after-study-reveal.

62 David M. Klieger et al., The Validity of GRE® General Test Scores for Predicting Academic Performance at U.S. Law Schools, ETS Research Report 18-26 (2018), https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1202794.pd.

63 ABA Council of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Summary of Actions, Nov. 19, 2021, https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/council_reports_and_resolutions/nov21/21-nov-legal-ed-summary-of-council-meeting.pd. (“In closed session, the Council also voted to permit law to accept GRE test scores from applicants in lieu of an LSAT score under Standard 503.”)

64 University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, JD Next: https://jd-next.org. (last visited 24 Jan. 2023).

65 Jessica Findley et al., JD-Next: A Valid and Reliable Tool to Predict Diverse Students’ Success in Law School, 20 J. Empirical Legal Stud. 134 (2023) (“We found that the JD-Next exam was a valid and reliable predictor of law school performance, comparable to legacy exams.”).

66 Matt Reynolds, ABA Legal Ed Council advances proposal to make law school admissions tests optional, ABA Journal, Nov. 18, 2022, www.abajournal.com/web/article/aba-and-proposal-to-make-law-school-admissions-tests-optiona. “According to the Law School Admission Council, which administers the LSAT, from 2017 to 2018, the mean LSAT score for white test-takers was 11.5 points higher than the mean score for Black test-takers. The council’s 2022 report also suggested disparities between white test-takers and Native Americans, Hispanics and other minorities.”

67 American Association of Law Libraries, www.aallnet.org/careers/about-the-profession/education. (c. 2010) (last visited 24 Jan. 2023).

68 Trezlen Drake, A Woman of Color Reflects on the DEI and Decredentialization Debate, Dec. 21, 2022, https://ripslawlibrarian.wordpress.com/2022/12/21/a-woman-of-color-reflects-on-the-dei-and-de-credentialization-debate. Drake suggests, “The way to address inequities in the profession is to do the work of addressing internalized and institutionalized racism. It’s to create pipeline access, fellowships with mentorship, and funding in the form of less or no student loans, and go to where the people are to recruit BIPOC and LGBTQIA + candidates into the profession. Pay two-degreed professionals as if they actually have those two degrees!”

69 While it would be even better to exponentially raise law librarian salaries to make the career that much more attractive, for purposes of this article, the authors are focusing on the current landscape and market.

70 Adria Nobles Kimbrough is the student recruiting manager, Marshall-Motley Scholars Program, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., www.linkedin.com/in/adria-nobles-kimbrough.

71 Adria Kimbrough, Diversity Dialogues: Building Pipelines for Diversity, https://elearning.aallnet.org/products/diversity-dialogues-building-pipelines-for-diversit.

72 University of Arizona, Hispanic-Serving Institution Initiatives, https://hsi.arizona.edu. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023) (a Department of Education HSI designation signifies that over 25% of its undergraduate population identifies as Hispanic.)

73 University of Arizona, Arizona Native Scholars Grant, https://financialaId.arizona.edu/types-of-aid/undergraduate-grants/arizona-native-scholars#/types-of-aid/undergraduate-grants/arizona-native-scholar. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023) (this program “ensures the tuition, mandatory fees, tuition differentials and program fees are fully covered for Native, Arizona Resident, Undergraduate students seeking their first Bachelor’s degree.”).

74 Kyle Mittan, UArizona Opens Its First Tribal Microcampus to Serve the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, University of Arizona News, Sept. 22, 2022, https://news.arizona.edu/story/uarizona-opens-its-first-tribal-microcampus-serve-pascua-yaqui-trib.

75 University of Arizona, School of Information, Knowledge River, https://ischool.arizona.edu/knowledge-rive. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023).

76 University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy, https://law.arizona.edu/programs/indigenous-peoples-law-polic. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023).

77 University of Arizona, Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library, Law Library Fellows Program, https://lawlibrary.arizona.edu/about/fellows-progra. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023).

78 Nichelle Perry, Developing Librarianship Pipeline Programs at HBCU Law Schools, 26(2) AALL Spectrum 34, 35 (Nov./Dec. 2021), https://aallspectrum.aallnet.org/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=4f936bb4-a5b9-4b39-884a-667d1ad8402.

79 Id. at 34.

80 Id. at 35.

81 Id. at 36.

82 King et al., supra note 40, at 272.

83 University of Arizona, BA in Law, https://law.arizona.edu/bachelor-arts-la. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023).

84 University of Arizona, BA in Law Curriculum Requirements, https://law.arizona.edu/curriculum-requirement. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023).

85 Linda Greenhouse, https://law.yale.edu/linda-greenhous. (last visited 21 Jan. 2023). See also Eric J. Segall, Supreme Myths, Episode 8: Linda Greenhouse, Aug. 28, 2020, https://news.gsu.edu/podcast/episode-08-linda-greenhouse.

86 James Hambleton, Does a Law Librarian Need a Law Degree? in The Spirit of Law Librarianship (Roy Mersky & Rich Leiter eds., 1991) 37, 43.

87 Id.

88 Penny A. Hazelton, Law Libraries as Special Libraries: An Educational Model, 42 Libr. Trends 319, 329–30 (1993), https://lib.law.uw.edu/dir/PAH/Misc/special.pd.

89 Id. at 336–7.

90 Steve Young, The Dual Degree: A Requirement in Search of a Justification, 17(3) AALL Spectrum 7, 10 (Dec. 2012).

91 Elizabeth Caufield, Is This a Profession? Establishing Educational Criteria for Law Librarians, 106 Law Libr. J. 287, 322–24 (2014).

92 University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, Master of Legal Studies, General Degree Path. https://law.arizona.edu/general-mls-degree-pat. (last visited 21 Jan. 2023).

93 Id.

94 Some academic law libraries require or prefer the librarians who teach to have a JD.

95 Elizabeth Adelman et al., Academic Law Library Director Status Since the Great Recession: Strengthened, Maintained, or Degraded? 112 Law Lib. J. 117, 133-32 (2020) (finding a 25% decrease in tenure-track directorships between 2006–2016. The researchers also found one in four changes in directorships since 2013 resulted in the new director having a degraded status compared to their predecessor.).

96 American Bar Association, ABA Standard 603(c) (2022-2023), www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/standards/2022-2023/22-23-standard-ch6.pd. “A director of a law library shall have appropriate academic qualifications and shall have knowledge of and experience in law library administration sufficient to support the program of legal education and to enable the law school to operate in compliance with the Standards.” ABA Standards, generally, available at www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/standards. Note, ABA Standards Chapter 6 is under review by the ABA.

97 Id. Interpretation 603–1 states, “Having a director of a law library with a law degree and a degree in library or information science is an effective method of assuring that the individual has appropriate qualifications and knowledge of and experience in library administration sufficient to support the program of legal education and to enable the law school to operate in compliance with the Standards.”

98 Id. ABA Standard 603(d) states, “Except in extraordinary circumstances, a law library director shall hold a law faculty appointment with security of faculty position.”

99 As the Adelman et al., supra note NOTEREF _Ref134538236 \h \* MERGEFORMAT 98, article illustrates, many law schools are moving away from the tradition of granting tenure or faculty status to the law library director. Is it because more and more women are assuming the top role in a male-dominated legal profession despite growing numbers of women law students and faculty? While law library directors historically have been male members of the faculty, librarianship is a gendered profession, dominated by women. The growing numbers of women law library directors reflects the growing number of women law school deans and other female leaders in a traditionally male-dominated legal profession. But this is the topic of discussion for another article.

100 There are 34 U.S. institutions with both a law school and a master’s program in library and information science. A study of law school and library science websites shows that of those 34 institutions, 13 have a formal JD-MLIS program established, and five allow graduate students to create any graduate dual degree they like. See Table 6.

101 Graduate assistant positions with tuition remission are not available to students of the professional colleges (law, business, medicine) at the University of Arizona due to special tuition programs at those colleges.

102 University of Arizona School of Information, legal information certificate, https://ischool.arizona.edu/graduate-certificates/legal-informatio. (last visited 17 Apr. 2023).

103 The fellows program, founded in 2000 by now-retired law library director Mike Chiorazzi, provides each fellow a part-time (20 hours/week) position in the law library at a competitive 12-month salary and tuition remission for library science coursework.

104 “The term hidden curriculum refers to an amorphous collection of “‘implicit academic, social, and cultural messages,’ ‘unwritten rules and unspoken expectations,’ and ‘unofficial norms, behaviors and values’ of the dominant-culture context in which all teaching and learning is situated. These ‘assumptions and expectations that are not formally communicated, established, or conveyed’ stipulate the ‘right’ way to think, speak, look, and behave in school. Since the hidden curriculum invisibly governs academic achievement, it is vital for every student to learn its lessons.” Boston University Teaching Writing, Teaching the Hidden Curriculum, www.bu.edu/teaching-writing/resources/teaching-the-hidden-curriculum. (last visited 18 Apr. 2023).

105 For FY’24, a fellow costs approximately $45,000. Annual costs include salary (approximately $28,500 for the fiscal year), fringe (13.2% or about $3,500), and tuition remission, approximately $13,000 for fall and spring semesters, combined). While graduate assistants at the University of Arizona may work the entire calendar year including summer, they are granted tuition remission only for the fall and spring semesters. Under federal tax law, graduate assistants must pay income tax on their tuition benefit.