This article first appeared in an October 19, 1992 "special section." Reprinted with permission of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

Law Libraries And Law Librarians:
Then, Now, And Later

Donald J. Dunn

The 300th anniversary of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is an opportune time to examine one of the commonwealth's most valuable assets for the law: law libraries.
Law libraries are the oldest specialized library of any type in the country. They provide students with places to study and prepare for classes, enable lawyers to prepare representation for their clients, and afford the judiciary the resources to research the law and make well-reasoned decisions.

When in 1887 Christopher Columbus Langdell referred to law libraries as the "lawyers'laboratory," he was in the midst of his distinguished career at Harvard Law School and, therefore, well positioned to know. Law libraries in Massachusetts epitomize Langdell's view, a view that remains apt today. Certainly if Langdell were with us now he would marvel at the vastness of the law libraries' successes' the scope of their coverage, the breadth of their resources, the quality of their services, and the educational level of law librarians. He would see the new, improved, technologically enhanced laboratory.

Origins
Although it has been said that God established the first law library and appointed Moses as the first law librarian, the origin of the law libraries in the commonwealth is more difficult to pinpoint. Most certainly it predates the 1692 establishment of the Superior Court of Judicature. The earliest libraries were the private law collections of members of the bar. They were scanty collections, rarely exceeding 10 to 20 volumes, with almost exclusive reliance on English reports and the works of Blackstone and Coke. Even by the time of the Revolution, only 33 law books had been printed in America.

It was in these private libraries where the early legal luminaries were trained. For example, Theophilus Parsons, chief justice of the Supreme judicial Court from 1806 to 1813, trained under Edmund Trowbridge, a member of the Court from 1767 to 1775. Trowbridge was said to have the greatest law library in New England at the time. In turn, Parsons developed his own library and used it to train John Quincy Adams, Charles Jackson, and others. Not until the early 1800s did law libraries as community resources come to be established. Prior to that time, the circuit-riding judges had to use whatever volumes were in their personal libraries or in those of a colleague, or do without. Not until 1805, when 26-year-old Joseph Stan wrote A Selection of Pleadings in Civil Actions and Massachusetts Reports, did modem legal literature in the commonwealth begin.

Various Kind Of Law Libraries
Four types of law libraries now exist in Massachusetts: academic; law firm and bar, court and governmental; and specialized, such as those in insurance companies, corporations, and correctional facilities. Collectively, these libraries contain the essential tools that enable students, bench and bar members, scholars, and lay users to delve into matters of particular concern to them.

Academic Law Libraries
Of the academic law libraries at the seven accredited Massachusetts law schools, Harvard's, of course, being the oldest law school in the nation, is also the most prestigious. Its law library began with the school in 1817 when a few hundred books were appropriated from the college's library and a few hundred dollars more collected for new purchases. By the turn of the 19th century Harvard Law Library contained more than 50,000 volumes. Today, with more than 1.7 million volumes, it dwarfs the collections in the state's other academic law libraries and is the second largest in the world, surpassed only by the Law Library of Congress. Its rare book, manuscript, art, and international legal studies collections are without parallel. As other law schools were established in and around Boston (Boston University, Northeastern, Suffolk, New England, and Boston College in that order), the area became a mecca for legal research for the academic community. Approximately 3.35 million volumes are now available in these six eastern Massachusetts academic law libraries.

It was not until 1973, when Western New England College began its full-time law program, that a major resource become available at 'the other end' of the state. Today its facilities and its 275,000 volume collection are open to the public, filling the previous gap in access to legal information in Western Massachusetts. The seven academic law libraries statewide currently have a combined annual budget of more than $15.6 million. Most are also selective depositories for federal government documents.

Law Firm And Bar Libraries
Two types of libraries primarily serve the needs of the practicing bar. ne most obvious are law firm libraries. They range from the very small, as might be found in the office of a sole practitioner and the one to five-member firm to the extensive 35,000- to 40,000-volume collections such as at Ropes & Gray and Bingham, Dana & Gould in Boston. The first law firm in Massachusetts was Hutchins & Wheeler, established in Boston in 1844. Since law firms need libraries, we can safely assume that this firm also had the distinction of having the first law firm library in the state. Regardless of size, these collections are closely tailored to the type of practice conducted by the firm and increasingly are enhanced by technology.

The Social Law Library
If lawyers were asked today to name the first law library established outside the private collections, they would likely answer "Harvard." To this, jeopardy host Alex Trebek would surely respond, "Nooo, sorry, wrong; this distinction belongs to SocialLaw Library in Boston."
By the turn of the 19th century, as the number of lawyers in the commonwealth increased, the small private collections could no longer meet the needs of the bar.

Therefore, on September 6, 1803, leading members of the Suffolk County bar drew up a subscription agreement and pledged $50 each to establish a public law library for the profession. The first proprietor's meeting was held April 23, 1804. Today, the Social Law library, with more than 325,000 volumes and more than 2,500 audio and video tapes, plus software packages, compact disks, and online databases, is the largest dues-based, member-managed law library serving any bar in the United States. It is the primary library resource for the state's appellate courts, state administrative agencies, and more than 6,500 dues-paying attorneys.

Court And Governmental Libraries
Even after the establishment of Social Law Library, there continued to be a need for a statewide system of law libraries to meet the demands from other locations and of a broader-based clientele. Therefore, in 1815, attorneys in the counties of Middlesex and Norfolk founded libraries, followed by Franklin County attorneys in 1816. In 1842, the General Court passed Chapter 94 which set up the structure for attorneys to organize to create a county law library and established the principal that all residents of the county, not just attorneys and judges, should have "access to the library and the books therein." In 1856, the counties assumed fiscal support for the law libraries. By 1904, there were 18. law library associations and 18 county law libraries, including branches in some counties but, none in Suffolk, due to the presence of the Social Law Library and the State Library, both in Boston.

Each county law library, operating as a separate facility, continued to serve the bench, bar, and public until 1978. At that time, the commonwealth, under the Court Reorganization Act, became responsible for the law libraries. The 18 individual libraries were brought together under the Office of the Chief Administrative Justice and the genesis of the Trial Court Law Library System was created. At that time the word "county" was dropped from these libraries' names, although their general location still can be determined their names, e.g., Berkshire Law Library.
Other law libraries have evolved to meet the needs of specific constituencies. The Massachusetts Department of the Attorney General Library, the U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit library, and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service District library, a in Boston, are intended for those working in these offices. Also in Boston is the Thorndike Library, created for the day-to-day use of the justices and staff of the Supreme Judicial Court. Established in 1921 through a bequest from John Thorndike, a former partner at Palmer & Dodge, this library's operation is now overseen by the Social Law Library staff.

Specialized Law Libraries
Even within the specialty field of law libraries are libraries with sub-specialties. Major corporations have legal departments and those departments need legal materials. Banks and other financial institutions, with their trust and loan departments, expanding range of services, and extensive governmental regulation, require a wide variety of legal materials in order to conduct their day-to-day operations. The same is true for insurance companies, accounting firms, and public utilities. Since the landmark decision of Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977), all state correctional institutions have law libraries.

Law Libraries Today
During the early developmental years, law libraries were often viewed as warehouses and librarians as caretakers. Those days have long since passed.

Today, law libraries are managed by highly educated, well-trained, and skilled professionals who aggressively promote their libraries and market their services. Thus, law libraries are trendsetters in use of the ever-increasing array of sophisticated technology.

The so-called computer era in law libraries was ushered in less than 20 years agowith the advent of Lexis and Westlaw and the arrival of two major bibliographic utilities, OCLC and RLIN. Almost overnight these and other systems transformed law libraries from single, self-contained units to bases from which users can explore and download information from remote databases, communicate with and transmit files to other users nationally and internationally via e-mail networks like Bitnet and Internet, and contribute to electronic journals.
Among others, Lexis with its Nexis service and Westlaw with its association with Dialog have opened up the world to information in ways never before possible. The competition is fierce. At times it resembles all the razzmatazz of the Pepsi v. Coke rivalry. In the law school setting the computer-assisted legal research (CALR) vendors are 'giving away' passwords and software to students, faculty members, and librarians in order to provide "home-access." With a computer and a modem, these individuals can use these systems for educational purposes from anywhere without direct cost to them. It is part of the umbrella subscription maintained by the law school's library.

No longer are these CALR services only providing access to cases and statutes. For example, in one or the other, and often times in both, there are: full texts of newspaper, magazine, and law review articles; wire service stories and broadcast transcripts; indices to legal periodical articles and non-law articles (better stated as 'law-related' since almost any topic can impinge on law); legal, medical, scientific, historical, and quotation directories; vast amounts of materials on international and European communities law; and information about corporations, patents and trademarks, and securities. Additionally, students use CALR prepare for job searches; lawyers use it to research their competition. Remember also hat this issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly will be available online in Lexis in just a few days, along with the back file to January 1991.

Often behind the scenes or at reference desks is computer access to massive bibliographic utilities that enable librarians to catalog online, to arrange interlibrary loans, and to access an assortment of databases through gateways. OCLC, for example, is world's largest, most comprehensive database of bibliographic information. It includes data on books, serials, sound recordings, musical scores, audiovisuals, maps, archives and manuscripts, and computer files. Containing the merged catalogs of more than 13,000 libraries of every type from around the world, OCLC's database as more than 24 million records and more than 400 million location listings. If an item is "out there somewhere," chances are great it can be located, borrowed, photocopied, or faxed. Bibliographic utilities have led to the development of sophisticated, automated serials check-in, acquisitions, and circulation control systems and online public access catalogs.

Currently all academic law libraries in Massachusetts, the Social Law Library, the Trial Court libraries, and many law firm and specialized libraries subscribe to Lexis or Westlaw (and often to both) and to at least one of the major bibliographic utilities. The judiciary and its staff also have access to . Westlaw or Lexis in their court libraries and at home. For those who do not have a subscription to one of the CALR systems, an account can be established with Social Law Library.
These developments are two of many revolutionizing the present-day law library into a dynamic, evolving resource that contains not only vast amounts of information, but also one that has access to virtually an endless assortment of law-related materials.

Gone are the days when these libraries were judged by the size of their collections. Now it is "can you find it for me, can you get it for me, and how fast can you do it-" Access, not ownership, has become the true measure of a library's quality.

In addition to being a major resource for research, law libraries are venturing into publishing. Take, for example, the work being done by the Social law Library. Fifteen years ago it established a microfilm laboratory to film and distribute in microfiche the growing collection of Supreme Judicial Court records and briefs, and, subsequently, those of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. The project has been a resounding success.

Currently, all academic law libraries and some Trial Court libraries in the state are receiving these materials.

The Social Law library is also publishing CD-ROM (compact disc, read-only memory), which has the capacity to store 300,000 pages on a single disc. Its CD-ROM database, the Massachusetts Administrative Law Library, contains the Code of Massachusetts Regulations and decisions from a number of state administrative agencies. It is updated quarterly. A program also under way to put the opinions of the Supreme Judicial Court and the Appeals Court on disc as a second CD-ROM publication. Imagine, the contents of almost 23 shelves of books (present count) on just a few discs. Because of the heavy concentration of lawyers in Massachusetts, the Social Law Library is not alone in producing materials for the Massachusetts market. National vendors have also entered the marketplace with Massachusetts-related CD-ROM products.

Other law libraries in the state are producing quality publications. For instance, almost any law library, regardless of type, produces in-house publications. Often these are research guides, pathfinders, bibliographies, brochures, and newsletters. Desktop publishing makes it possible for these publications to have a professional appearance in addition to their substantive content. Recently, the law libraries at Boston College (1992) and Western New England College (1989) have received the annual American Association of Law Libraries Publication Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement for user-oriented materials.

Law Librarians: Past And Present
Extraordinary changes have occurred in the profession of law librarianship over the years. The number, skill, and educational levels of law librarians have increased in relation to the size and degree of sophistication of the various types of law libraries. When the Social Law Library was established, the bylaws called for a librarian to be appointed annually by the trustees. These early "librarians" were not really librarians at all, but rather prominent members of the bar, who served essentially a custodial function. That the first librarians were not library-trained should be no more surprising than the fact that the first justices of the Superior Court of Judicature were not lawyers. The first person to hold the position of law librarian at the Social Law Library in a full-time, on-going basis was not appointed until 1827.

The situation at Harvard was different. Beginning in 1830 and continuing for 40 years, a law student was in charge of Harvard's collection and of distributing the books. Once such person included the later-to-be-famous Christopher Columbus Langdell himself. When Langdell became dean of the law school in 1870, he reorganized the library and appointed a librarian. Unfortunately, this person also served as secretary of the school and could not devote his full attention to the library. Langdell retained most of the administrative responsibilities. Sometime after 1895, the year in which James Barr Ames became dean, a librarian was appointed who held all the functions of the present-day librarian.

Law librarianship as a profession was not officially recognized until 1906 when the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) was established with a charter membership of 24. Today, AALL, headquartered in Chicago, has more than 5,000 members and 30 chapters across the country.The chapter serving Massachusetts is the Law Librarians of New England, with a membership of almost 400. In academic law libraries in Massachusetts alone, there are 77 law librarians, of which 28 have both masters in library science and law degrees, including all the directors. Of the librarians in the Trial Court system, 14 have masters in library science and five have law degrees. The most dramatic increase has occurred with law firm librarians. Less than 10 years ago, the number of law firm librarians in the state was around 12. Today, there are approximately 70. When the 14 librarians at the Social Law Library, the independent law librarians and those at the various specialized libraries are added to the figures above, the number of law librarians statewide exceeds 200.

When does an organization need a law librarian? For a firm it is when the value of the hours that the librarian saves the attorneys in an office approximates the librarian's salary and fringe benefits. Depending on the area of the state and the salary package offered, this typically works out to one librarian for every 25-35 lawyers. A librarian on a part-time basis can satisfy a firm's needs in its intermediate stages of growth. For academic law libraries, it is roughly one librarian for every 40,000 volumes or an 84-to-one student-to-librarian ratio. This ratio will continue to get smaller as volume counts increase, student enrollment stays static or declines, technology proliferates, and reference demands expand. For other types of libraries it is the time when a skilled professional is required to make order out of chaos.

Trends And Common Concerns
The trends toward an increasing reliance on technology and online databases, publishing efforts of law libraries, and enhancing educational levels of the librarians have already been mentioned. These, as well as other trends, need further amplification in order to forecast the future. While the future for law libraries and law librarians is exciting and challenging, it is not always rosy.
The most obvious observation that can be made about the future for law libraries is that computer technology has arrived, is here to stay, and will dominate, but it will not entirely replace the book. The book is still the most user-friendly medium we have. You can feel it, touch it, hold it, and cuddle up with it. The serendipitous nature of having numerous volumes open at one time and glancing at multiple pages may never be replicated. Harvard is leading the way for other law libraries with an historic book preservation program to assure that future generations are not deprived of information available only in printed form. Surely the human mind will remain the most efficient information-processing system ever created. We may have to wake it up after a night's rest, but it can betaken everywhere, it runs all the time, and it learns, thinks, and reasons. Social Law Library, through its oral history project, is recording the wisdom of legal leaders for posterity.
What has changed and will continue to change is how users access information and how much they will be able to access. The walls of law libraries have become transparent. Users can peer through other transparent walls far away, look around, find what they want or move on and continue looking. Recently, a librarian in a law firm library in the state searched the online records of the Massachusetts Registry. of Deeds in order to identify the real property holdings of a family with variations in the spelling of the family's last name.

Already libraries can dial into other libraries online catalogs. Additional databases, such as Legal Resource Index, are being loaded into these catalogs so that users can also locate legal periodical articles. It is likely that publishers will supply the tables of contents and indices to their materials in formats suitable for online catalogs. At locations that are fully automated (serials, acquisitions, circulation) it is possible now to determine if a volume is on the shelf or checked out and if necessary, to add one's name to a waiting list.

Other catalogs are in CD-ROM. For example, all academic law libraries in Massachusetts and Social Law Library have contributed their online cataloging records to the New England Law library Consortium (NELLCO), a cooperative group that also includes all other academic law libraries in New England, Rhode Island State Library, and Albany Law School library. The result is the NELLCO Union Catalog, containing catalog data for all these libraries stored on a disk the size of one music CD. Through a federal library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) grant, the Trial Court libraries have produced a CD-ROM catalog of their combined holdings and, in order for the public to have access, have distributed it to the 13 sub-regional public libraries in the state. By the year 2000 do not expect to find many of the once-traditional catalogs containing 3-by-5-inch cards; they are fast becoming the dinosaurs of libraries. Patrons will be using online or CD-ROM sources exclusively and will be calling them from home, even at the risk of turning into a virtual computer couch potato.

Still other media are coming into use. Optical disks and electronic imaging, which allow storage and retrieval of even larger amounts of information than on a standard CD-ROM product, are already available. Harvard Law library is currently experimenting with interactive video. While the potential for this medium is truly exciting, artificial intelligence systems may well be the next revolution on the horizon.

What then are the concerns of law librarians- Perhaps the most pressing is the belief that recent law school graduates and summer associates do not possess adequate legal research skills to be effective in their places of employment. Law firm librarians are finding themselves providing remedial training. Academic law librarians are offering legal research refreshers, topical seminars, and even advanced courses in legal research. Employers expect hirees to hit the ground running. Law librarians are working to find ways to assure that legal research is recognized and taught as an essential lawyering skill. Already courts are finding attorney malpractice for failure to consult databases in the course of legal research.

Shortages of finding, inadequate space, and limitations on access to information are other troubling areas for law libraries. Technology is not cheap, library service is not actually free, computers and books compete for appropriate space, and the downturn in the economy is causing havoc for libraries. Further, as law libraries increasingly rely exclusively on online sources, the public will find it more and more difficult to have access to necessary information due to limitations on who may use the databases.

The Social Law Library has not had an increase in revenues in two years. It is being squeezed from all sides as a result of rising costs, and space is at a premium. Academic law libraries in Massachusetts will soon face the bleak demographic forecasts predicting a significant decline in the number of applicants to law schools in the northeast. With fewer students come fewer tuition dollars to help support the libraries. Yet, law librarians are needed to help the patrons efficiently sort through a morass of information in mixed-media formats. Salaries for most librarians remain low for the value received.

Library schools are closing because, simply stated, those with masters degrees in other disciplines can make more money, especially in the current economy. Law libraries presently do not have available the human and financial resources to actually do many of those things they can do well. The legal community is suffering as a result.
Another problem facing law librarians is keeping up with the information explosion. Less than 20 years ago the sources were either in hard copy or microform. With the onset of computer technology, it means additional resources to learn, another medium to manage. The astounding rate at which information can be generated through computers creates a constant struggle for law librarians: to try to keep up with changing hardware, software enhancements, new databases, and additions to existing ones is a full-time job. Law librarianship is complicated even further by increased demands from all segments of the legal community for sources not traditionally a part of the legal arena. Requests for information about the environment science, business, medicine, and the social sciences are commonplace, and well should they be.

At least one other change can be expected for law libraries in the years ahead. Law librarians are now pro-active; they practice assertive reference. For instance, as a result of their LSCA grant the Trial Court libraries recently established a toll-free number for evening reference use by other librarians in the state. Beyond law librarians' proven skills as managers and administrators, law librarians are demonstrating their educational abilities. They also are becoming advocates for law libraries and for themselves. AALL and its chapters are engaged in a variety of public relations efforts. In late August of this year law librarians were featured on The Law Show, a syndicated program of public radio. They discussed the law library profession and the issues it faces.
The nation of users can expect to hear much more about law libraries and law librarians in the years ahead and plan to rely on them more. Law librarians will be the ones assuring that when it is time to celebrate the quadri-centennial of the Supreme judicial Court that the reports and records are available in law libraries, regardless of in what yet-to-be-discovered format they may appear.