Attorney-General Freundel Stuart looking at some of the books on display yesterday at the opening of 24th annual general meeting and seminar of the Caribbean Association of Law Libraries.
Law librarians praised, urged to speak out
6/23/2009
GOVERNMENT’S chief legal spokesman wants law librarians to speak out on matters affecting their profession.
Attorney-General (AG) Freundel Stuart said with law librarians often taken for granted by their clients, they need to let their voices by heard more.
He was speaking at the opening of 24th annual general meeting and seminar of the Caribbean Association of Law Libraries which was held at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
The Deputy Prime Minister said many people did not know that a law librarian was someone who had a degree or some other professional qualification in librarianship as well as a law degree, with some of them also called to the Bar.
Some law librarians were also legal researchers in their own right, publishing and contributing to legal discussions in their countries, and most did not seek to draw attention to themselves, he added.
“In other words, few librarians are into branding, and are happy merely to impart knowledge to others and to be thanked for a job well done. This is not enough, however, if the profession is to attract more young persons into its ranks. It must be seen as both dynamic and rewarding,” he asserted.
“Perhaps librarians can do a bit more to enhance their image by speaking out on matters which affect their profession and the dissemination of information in general,” he said.
The AG praised regional law librarians, noting that their functions were varied and could be complex.
“Law librarians are professionals who tend to work quietly in the background so to speak, building and organising legal materials, assisting users in finding and interpreting documents and in the case of larger law libraries such as the Faculty of Law Library, publishing indexes and guides to make the task of legal research that much easier,” he said.
“And of course on a daily basis librarians have to try to steer a careful course between assisting patrons in finding materials and giving advice on how to interpret those materials. Persons working in law libraries must be reminded that they are finders and not interpreters of the law, even though some lawyers would wish them to be both.” (SC)
