Welcome to Ramsey County!

On 04.22.22, In Interesting people, Libraries, Local News, By The Law Librarian
Law Library Director Shannon Stoneking

Today the law library would like to introduce our new director, Shannon Stoneking.  Shannon started on April 18th, and she was previously the manager of the Dakota County Law Library.  In her new position, Shannon will continue to work on making the law library a place where Ramsey County residents can receive help with their legal questions.

Shannon has had a variety of experiences that led her to Ramsey County.  She spent twelve years in Scott County as a law clerk for both Judge Macklin and Judge Lennon.  In fact, it was her researching for the judges that brought her to the law library.  There, Scott County Law Librarian Mary Freyberg assisted her, and encouraged her interest in librarianship.  Shannon enrolled in the Library and Information Science program at the University of North Texas.  A few months later, an opportunity to move in the field of law librarianship presented itself, and with the encouragement of Mary Freyberg, Shannon took the plunge and applied.  In September of 2013, Shannon became the manager of the Dakota County Law Library.

At Dakota County, Shannon was responsible for three locations, the main branch in Hastings, the Galaxie satellite branch in Apple Valley, and at the courthouse in West St. Paul.  In her eight years at Dakota County, she created strong partnerships that improved access to justice for her patrons.  Small changes such as hiring bilingual staff, creating clinics staffed by multilingual attorneys, partnering with the public library branch librarians to bring legal information for seniors were just a few of the programs that she initiated.  During the pandemic, she transitioned into an online world where she presented CLEs via Zoom, and she provided legal information and research to remote users.

The librarians in Dakota County really appreciated the work Shannon did at the law library.  Margaret Stone, Director of Dakota County Library said:

Shannon was a great partner in serving the Dakota County community.  She is a pleasure to work with, knowledgeable, professional, supportive to her staff and I always appreciated how she made public legal service a priority in her role.  Shannon worked hard to help people reach their best possible outcome through the many legal clinics she offered and her work one on one while staffing the information desk.  We will miss her; Ramsey County is fortunate to have Shannon as director of the Law Library.

Shannon comes to Ramsey County, energized and ready to continue where Sara Galligan left off.  When she is not working on access to justice issues or running the law library, Shannon is interested in philosophy (she majored in Philosophy as an undergrad at Providence College) and participates locally at the Socrates Café.  But if you really want to start a conversation with her, ask her about hockey.  She is an avid fan and player, and she frequently watches her three nephews play hockey.  She is a devoted Gopher Hockey fan and hopes to see the Minnesota Wild make a long run into the postseason. 

Please stop by the law library to meet Shannon!  She is looking forward to meeting you.

 
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Celebrating Sara!

On 03.29.22, In Interesting people, Libraries, Local History, By The Law Librarian

Please join us in congratulating Sara Galligan on her retirement.  Sara has been the Director of the Ramsey County Law Library since 2008, and she leaves the library and Ramsey County a better place.

For the past almost fourteen years, Sara has strived to make the law library responsive to the needs of Ramsey County residents.  She has forged relationships with groups outside of the law library, including the Ramsey County Public Library, Ramsey County District Court, Minnesota Justice Foundation, the Ramsey County Bar Association, the Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, and the Volunteer Lawyers Network to establish policies and develop resources that increase access to justice.

For example, Sara managed two clinics at the law library.  The Housing/Conciliation Court clinic is open to Ramsey County residents or those with a case pending in Ramsey County.  The law library also hosts the Criminal Law Clinic, which is open to anyone living in Minnesota.  In addition, the law library provides space for Ramsey County’s Criminal Expungement clinic, which suspended operations during the pandemic, but hopes to open later this year.

Sara was also the impetus that created the law library’s Antiracism Booklist, and continues to advocate for collecting titles that help readers learn about cultures and life experiences different from their own.  This forward-thinking attitude is also reflected in the library’s collection development policy, which was approved by the Law Library Board of Trustees last December. 

Sara’s work in bringing access to justice issues to the forefront was recognized nationally when she chaired a special committee of the American Association of Law Libraries that created a report on Law Libraries and Access to Justice.  She is also an active member of the Self-Represented Litigation Network, and with her colleagues created a story map 2019, which shows how self-represented litigants are helped by law libraries. 

In addition, her leadership skills have been recognized not once, but twice by the Minnesota legal community.  Minnesota Lawyer sponsors several annual awards to recognize outstanding members of the profession.  In 2003, Sara was recognized as an “Up and Coming” attorney.  This award honors newer attorneys to the Minnesota Bar who have significant professional accomplishment, leadership service to the community and the profession.  In 2015, Sara was once again honored, this time as an “Unsung Legal Hero.”  The Unsung Legal Hero Award is presented to the state’s most talented and dedicated legal support professionals. 

In 2019, under Sara’s leadership, the Ramsey County Bar Association honored the Law Library with the Liberty Bell Award.  This award is presented annually to honor one non-lawyer’s activities that greatly benefit our legal community and our Ramsey County citizens by increasing the effective functioning of our government and courts through understanding, encouragement, and respect for our institutions and the rule of law. 

The law library is going to miss Sara, not just for her leadership but also for the example she has set for other law librarians in Minnesota.  Congratulations Sara!  All the best for a well-earned retirement.

 
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More Libraries for National Library Week

On 04.09.21, In Legal Research, Libraries, By The Law Librarian

To end National Library Week 2021 with a bang, we thought we’d tell our readers about CALCO, the Capitol Area Library Consortium.  Member libraries of CALCO represent a variety of state agencies, as well as entities of the judicial and legislative branches of Minnesota government.  CALCO was formed in 1973 to encourage cooperation among the government libraries.  Today, there are fourteen full members and four associate member libraries.  Associate members are libraries or affiliated groups that share the same interests as CALCO, but do not meet the membership criteria. The Ramsey County Law Library is an associate member of CALCO.

All CALCO libraries have experienced staff to help its patrons find information.  Other benefits of the CALCO Libraries:

  • Provide access to unique services and government materials that are not available elsewhere. 
  • Have material available in print, but also in microforms, electronic, and other formats.  For example, the Minnesota State Services for the Blind Library has audio and braille resources available to Minnesota residents.  In addition, the libraries include publications on diverse topics including the arts, business and economics, environment and natural resources, health, history, law and legislation, public policy, and transportation.
  • Provide access to their unique collections to the public.  The general public can find these unique materials through the online catalog or by contacting the library.  (Note that hour and access might be limited due to COVID-19.  Please contact each library directly for access.)

The pandemic has forced many of these libraries to adapt to providing services remotely, as many of the librarians were forced to work from home (and many still do.)  Dan Gausman from the State Services for the Blind Library observed, “Our service model has always been by phone and by mail.  Given that our offices are closed to the public during the pandemic there has been no drop-in, drop-off, or pick-up service.”   

The CALCO Librarians meet regularly to keep each other apprised of the issues within their respective libraries.  These regular meetings have been especially helpful in the last year, as Dan Gausman commented, “I also appreciate that our member libraries can offer support to each other during these difficult times.”

To see a full list of CALCO member libraries visit CALCO’s website at https://mn.gov/library/index.html.

Be kind to your librarian, and have a wonderful National Library Week!

 
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Happy National Library Week 2021!

On 04.06.21, In Libraries, Local History, By The Law Librarian

To celebrate National Library Week, we would like to tell you a little bit about a local library.  Not ours – I’m sure you know quite a bit about the services we offer.  The library you should know about is the George Latimer Central Library, located just one block west of the courthouse.

The George Latimer Central Library (“Library”) is the main branch of the St. Paul Public Library system.  It has over 350,000 books and other materials.  The Library was established in 1882 with a collection of over 8000 books.  In 1900, the library moved to a space on 7th Street, but community initiative and an unfortunate fire in 1915 spurred on construction for a new library. 

The building’s architect was Electus Litchfield, a prominent New York architect who is also known for designing the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn and Bellevue Hospital in New York.  The cost for building the new library, including the research library named after notable railroad baron and philanthropist James J. Hill, cost $1.5 million dollars.  The building was completed in 1917 and has been there, across the street from Rice Park, ever since.

In 2014, the library was renamed the George Latimer Central Library, honoring a former mayor of St. Paul.  Mr. Latimer was born in Schenectady, New York and was a graduate of Columbia Law School.  He came to St. Paul in 1963 and practiced law until 1976 when he was elected mayor.  Mr. Latimer served as mayor from 1976-1990, and later served on the Library Board of Trustees from 1998-2012, and as chair from 2008-2012.  In May 2014, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced the renaming of the library, which was received with much enthusiasm.  As Kit Hadley, the former Director of the St. Paul Public Library said,

We are honored to have Mayor Latimer’s name placed on Central Library.  All of Saint Paul has benefitted from his tireless work, from education to affordable housing to helping those in need. There is no more fitting name for this library given Mayor Latimer’s work with the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library and the fact that libraries are active centers for community engagement.

Happy National Library Week everyone! 

 
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