Meet Your New Member-At-Large, Matt Braun
In this series, we’re getting to know our LIT-SIS board. In this second installment, Matt Braun, LIT-SIS Member-at-Large, answers a few questions. Read on to get to know more about Matt!
1) Tell us about your path to law librarianship.
I became aware of law librarianship during my third year of law school, after reading a piece in Student Lawyer, an ABA publication, about the work and lives of academic law librarians. Upon not being able to sleep that night, due to the enthusiasm of finally finding my professional calling, I immediately started talking to my most trusted professors and each of them told me: “I could really see you doing that.” After taking the bar exam and finishing a state trial court clerkship, I began library school.
2) Why is involvement in an SIS valuable?
In any large organization such as AALL, it is important to find a niche, whether that be in a SIS, a committee, a caucus, etc. A SIS, ideally, brings legal information professionals with shared interests and questions into contact with one another, and keeps us continuously talking to, listening to, and learning from each other.
3) What do you enjoy most about being involved with LIT-SIS?
I most enjoy being involved with LIT-SIS for its primacy in the current legal information landscape and for the interesting work and experiences of LIT-SIS members. Ours is truly a learning SIS.
4) Recommend one book you’ve read recently.
I have to admit, I have not had much time for reading lately. That being said, I am right now holding a copy of Law Librarianship in the Digital Age, edited by Ellyssa Kroski, Scarecrow Press, 2014, and I am finally going to read it cover-to-cover.