At the 2025 AALL Annual Conference in Portland this summer, PLI raffled off a coffee gift set. We are pleased to announce this year’s winner is Iain Barksdale, Technical Services Librarian at University of Alabama School of Law! Read on to learn about Iain’s path to librarianship, and his PLI favorites.

Tell us a little about yourself. Why did you become a librarian?

I had worked as a part-time librarian before law school while I was an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at two Kentucky community colleges. During law school I worked in the law library and then later was the library manager for the Legal Aid Society in Louisville. In my third year of law school, I decided that I did not want to practice law but rather move back into academia and teach. Since I enjoyed librarianship and research, I made a plan to earn an MLS and enter into law librarianship full-time.

What do you like most about your job as a Technology Services Librarian at Alabama Law?

I enjoy educating others in the use of technology in order to be more effective and efficient in the work they need to do in law school and later on in practice. 

Which PLI product do you most frequently recommend to students or faculty?

I am a big fan of PLI practice guides and checklists. Our students receive plenty of quality doctrinal instruction, so I like to guide them towards practice-oriented sources that can save them time by not “reinventing the wheel.”

What did you think of this year’s AALL conference? What was the highlight for you?

I thought it was a good conference this year with plenty of forward-looking sessions. The highlight for me was reconnecting with fellow colleagues, as I have not been to a conference since the first conference cancelled due to COVID, and talking about what they are doing in their libraries, particularly regarding access to legal data and legal research instruction. Nothing can really replace being physically present with friends and colleagues.