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Bar News - May 6, 2005 Opening the Door to NH Supreme Court's Law Library By: Dan Wise Mary Searles, formerly coordinator of the Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service, left the NHBA to obtain a graduate degree in library science and recently was appointed Supreme Court Law Librarian. Supreme Court Law Librarian Mary Searles is looking forward to the departure of the painters' tarps and the unveiling of bright, newly painted walls at the Supreme Court's three-floor law library in the Supreme Court building. The interior facelift is part of a general "reinvigoration" of the library, according to Associate Justice Richard Galway, who also said that the newly-appointed Searles has been encouraged to do more to stimulate visibility for the library among the members of the legal community and the public. Searles said that her goal is to make the library's resources as accessible as possible; one major step in that direction will occur as soon as the library's catalog becomes available online. It will be accessible through the law library's Web site at http://www.courts.state.nh.us/lawlibrary/. Searles, who joined the library staff last July, was recently appointed Law Librarian following the departure of Christine Swan in December. Searles, who received a master's in library science from Simmons College in May 2004, is not unknown to the NH legal community, having worked for eight years for the New Hampshire Bar Association in the legal services department after receiving her paralegal certificate. Searles served as coordinator of the Lawyer Referral Service from 1995 to 2000 when she left to pursue her degree in library science. While at the Bar, Searles also oversaw the production of the Pro Se Divorce Booklet and numerous public information pamphlets and also served as the first coordinator for the Pro Bono Referral Program's Domestic Violence Emergency Project (DOVE). Searles said that many lawyers and court personnel use the library, as well as members of the public conducting their own research. The online catalog will help patrons find out what resources are available within the library's 100,000-volume collection and provide access to many government documents available electronically. The library also has four computers available for public use to access the Internet. None of the materials in the library are available for circulation. The library's collection of New Hampshire legal materials includes session laws, statutes, House and Senate journals, bills, slip laws, proceedings of the constitutional conventions, regulations, judicial and agency decisions, court rules, governor's executive orders, and attorney general opinions, as well as a collection of secondary sources, including law reviews and more than 300 volumes of NH Bar CLE program materials, including many older programs no longer kept in inventory by the Bar. Her most interesting queries so far have been helping a patron locate a certified copy of her grandfather's naturalization certificate from 1896 and helping another person find out how to file a personal injury suit in an Asian country. Searles said the library has retrospective statute materials for NH, including all superceded volumes to aid researchers trying to determine what laws were in effect at a particular point in the past. The library, to the extent possible, can respond to telephone or written inquiries but cannot conduct legal research or provide legal advice. |
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