At the 2023 AALL Annual Conference in Boston this summer, PLI raffled off a pair of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones. We are pleased to announce this year’s winner is Jill Brooks, Research Librarian at Robinson Bradshaw. Read on to learn about Jill’s path to librarianship, passion for community, and podcast recommendations.
Tell us a little about yourself. Why did you become a librarian?
I have been a librarian for twenty years and still love what I do. I’ve been a cataloguer, research librarian, competitive intelligence analyst, and library director. The librarian field is vast and diverse and there is always something new to learn and discover. Like most librarians I love to read. I also enjoy hiking, triathlons, and traveling.
Librarianship was a late career choice for me. I was a teacher working as a literacy specialist in the school system. This involved mentoring teachers and developing lesson plans. I realized that I was enjoying the researching of the lesson plans more and more. Burnout in the teaching profession is very high and I was reaching my limit. Getting a MLIS seemed like the next best step on my career path. I did not plan to be a legal librarian but to become a media specialist in the school system. Unfortunately the school system wanted to place me back in the classroom instead of the library. There was an ad in the newspaper for a librarian and I got the position. While I miss the students and collaborating with the teachers, I don’t miss the paperwork and politics of the school system. Being a librarian has been rewarding and I am lucky that I found such a wonderful law firm in Robinson Bradshaw.
What do you like most about your job as the Research Librarian for Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson?
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. is a North Carolina law firm. As such they focus on the community where we live. For the most part our clients are corporations, non-profits, and residents of North Carolina. That being said, what I like most about working at Robinson Bradshaw is serving our community. Besides corporate work, our firm does a lot of pro bono work for secured housing focusing on displaced mothers and children. I also love the challenge of digging into a difficult request and brainstorming ideas with my team to find answers in unusual places. Robinson Bradshaw offers a challenging and rewarding place to work.
Which PLI product do you most frequently recommend to your colleagues?
PLI’s CLE Programs are the most frequently recommended resource. The ability for attorneys to obtain CLE credit so easily is a boon. The fact you can use the platform for research needs and resources is an added bonus.
What did you think of this year’s AALL conference? What was the highlight for you?
This year’s conference was one of the best I have attended. Every session was spot on in delivering relevant content. I always preview the agenda and choose more than one session to attend at a conference in case the first choice session is not quite what is described. This was the first conference where I did not leave a session and have to use a second choice.
The highlight of the conference was the opening keynote speaker Charles Vogl. He set the tone for AALL Boston: To build a community starts with you. You have to be willing to reach out and connect with your colleagues. This was a perfect lead in to the conference. I have taken his ideas and put them into practice—one of which is getting our local AALL group together for an in-person Boston recap.
PLI recently launched PLI Ever Current: The Practising Law Librarian, a new podcast for – and about – the law librarian community. Are there any other podcasts that should be on our radar?
My podcast recommendation is 3 Geeks and A Law Blog. They have wonderful guests that provide insightful information. Their podcast on competitive intelligence was very informative.
