Food in the Library!
By Jean Holcomb
During the holiday season, so the story goes, we shouldn’t be surprised if visions of sugarplums dance through our heads. While sugarplums might not be the stuff of your particular holiday food visions, we all have favorite foods that we associate with the holiday season. The library’s budget won’t stretch to include treats during the holiday season. There is something, however, that we’ve decided we can do to take a visit to the Seattle library out of the “no calories here” zone.
Now that the Seattle library’s back in the courthouse, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our policies and procedures with an eye to making our space more comfortable and user friendly. One policy in particular seemed ready for reconsideration. For as long as anyone can remember, a sign on the front door greeted visitors to the courthouse library stating in no uncertain terms, “No Food or Drink in the Library.”
We removed that sign as one of our first acts upon returning to the sixth floor. Beverages in covered containers may now be brought into the library. Food may be eaten in the library’s conference rooms.
To accommodate the addition of seismic bracing, the library reconfigured the existing conference rooms and added an additional conference room. All of the conference rooms have been enlarged and repainted. The two largest rooms may be reserved in advance for activities such as study, conferences, depositions, and client meetings.
We want the library to be a welcoming place. That philosophy drove our remodeling effort. Recognizing that we live in a community where a significant part of the population has a paper container of coffee in hand as they go about their business, we felt it time that the library’s policy on food and drink align more positively with local custom. While the phrase “meet me in a library conference room for lunch,” isn’t one that springs to mind readily, we hope that perspective will change. Call the library at (206) 296-0940 to make a conference room reservation.
Subscriber Program Reminder: The 2004 Subscriber Program year is drawing to a close. The Library Board and staff wish to express their appreciation to all those who supported the Library through their participation this past year. With your continued support in 2005, we are committed to improving access to our valuable resources and to developing additional services for our Subscribers. Subscriber Program renewal notices for 2005 will be mailed in early December. The fee for enrollment in the Subscriber program will remain at $55.00 per attorney for 2005.
The fee must be paid for each King County attorney employee of the business. As in the past, there will be no charge to enroll law library staff, summer associates, and other non-attorney staff. If you would like information about the benefits of becoming a member of the Subscriber program, contact Rick Stroup at (206) 296-0940. If you did not receive your renewal invoice or have questions about your account, please contact Craig Burgess at (206) 296-0940. You can find information about the Subscriber program on the Library’s web site at www.kcll.org.
Holiday hours: the libraries in Seattle and at the RJC will be closed on December 24 and December 31. For a full listing of December holiday hours and closings, visit the library’s web site at www.kcll.org.
Ethics CLE seminar dates: To help those who need to earn ethics credits before the end of the year, the Library will again sponsor “Researching Legal Ethics--On and Off the Web.” Three sessions will be offered on December 2, 8, and 14 from noon until 1:15 PM in the Seattle library training center. Previous classes on this topic presented by the library have been pre-approved for 1:25 Ethics credits. This year these sessions will be self-reporting for 1.25 credits. To register, call the Library at (206) 296-0940 or complete the registration form on the Library web site at www.kcll.org. We will again offer price reductions for our CLE courses to members of the Library’s Subscriber program.
85th Anniversary Campaign pro-gress report: Even though the Library’s back in its old home, it’s not too late to become a contributor! We will be accepting donations until the end of the year. Items remain on our priority for purchase list that we’ve been unable to fund. Donors who make a gift at the $250.00 level and above by December 31, 2004 will be recognized by having their names listed on a commemorative plaque that will be displayed in the Library. For more about the Campaign and how you can make a gift, visit www.kcll.org/fundraising.
Internet class topic: The Seattle Law Library Internet lunch-break class for web users will be held on the third Thursday of the month on the Sixth floor of the County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue. In preparation for the upcoming 2005 Legislative session, the December 16 class will describe web based resources for Washington legislative information. The January 20 class will focus on tax law resources found on the web. To register, contact Denise at KCBA at (206) 340-2578. For information about the training, contact Rita Kaiser at (206) 296-0940. For information about additional training opportunities, view the monthly training calendar on the library’s web page at www.kcll.org.
Gifts: the library appreciates the gift to the collection made by Nathaniel B. Green, Jr.
Recent Acquisitions, King County Law Library: Administrative Law: A Blackletter Statement of Federal Administrative Law; Banking: Fair Debt Collection; Consumer Banking and Payments Law: Credit, Debit & Stored Value Cards, Checks, Money Orders, E-Sign, Electronic Banking and Benefit Payments; The Cost of Credit: Regulation and Legal Challenges; Bankruptcy: Bankruptcy Fundamen-tals; Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice; Civil Procedure: The Methods of Attacking Scientific Evidence; Discovery without Despair; Anatomy of a Motor Vehicle Accident Case: From Investigation to the Courthouse Steps; Consumer Arbitration Agreements: Enforceability and Other Topics; Consumer Class Actions: a Practical Litigation Guide; Constitutional Law: The State and Religion in a Nutshell; Contracts: Government Contracts in a Nutshell; Derivatives Regulation; Mechanics’ Lien Law and Strategies in Washington; Consumer Warranty Law: Lemon Law, Magnuson-Moss, UCC, Mobile Home, and Other Warranty Statutes; Criminal Procedure: Plea Bargaining; ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: Collateral Sanctions and Discretionary Disqualifications of Convicted Persons; Domestic Relations: Family & Volunteer Guardian’s Handbook: How to be an Effective Guardian; Intellectual Property: Fundamentals of Intellectual Property: Intellectual Property for the Rest of Us; Protecting Intellectual Property: From Inception to Assertion; International Law: International Trade and Economic Relations in a Nutshell; Libraries: Werner’s Manual for Prison Law Libraries; Patents: Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Law 2004: Patents & Business Strategies; Practice of Law: The Impact of Domestic Violence on Your Legal Practice: a Lawyer’s Handbook; The Advantages of Anti-Bias Awareness, Cultural Competency, and Respecting Diversity; Reparations: Restitution for Crime Victims: a National Strategy; Taxation: International Taxation in a Nutshell; RIA’s Complete Analysis of the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004; Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004: law, explanation and analysis; Federal and Washington Estate Tax Returns; American Jobs Creation Act of 2004; Trade Regulation: Staff Report on the Proposed Revised FTC Franchise Rule; Legal Aspects of Selling and Buying; Automobile Fraud: Odometer tampering, Lemon Laundering, and Concealment of Salvage or other Adverse History; Access to Utility Service: Regulated, De-Regulated and Unregulated Utilities, Deliverable Fuels, and Telecommunications.
Jean Holcomb is the King County Law Librarian. She welcomes your comments. Call her at (206) 296-0940,
or email her at jean.holcomb@metrokc.
