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14 Trends L. Libr. Mgmt. & Tech. 1 (2003)

handle is hein.journals/ttllmt14 and id is 1 raw text is: 2003 VoL 14 No. 1 / IN LAW LIBRARY MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY Edited by Philip C. Berwick + For academic, firm, corporate, and government law librarians 51, 36, 127, Hike: Justifying a Law Library Renovation and Expansion Project (Part I) By JAMES S. HELLER, College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law Efforts to renovate and expand the law library facility at William & Mary began in the mid- 1990s. This two-part article traces how this project was justified within the law school, the uni- versity, the State Council of Higher Education, the General Assembly, and, ultimately, the voters of the Commonwealth, who approved a state-wide higher education capital bond initiative in November 2002. This article summarizes how we sold the project to different constituencies. Part II, in the next issue of Trends, sets out a model document that was used to persuade these groups of the project's viability. Internal Constituencies The first step in any building project involves market- ing it internally-in our case, within the law school. The various constituencies include: library staff, stu- dents, faculty, administrators, and any law school advisory boards. Much of what is discussed below will not happen until you get the dean's support for the project. This is not necessarily an easy task; it could take years, so be patient. You must be prepared to give the dean detailed information supporting the project, both orally and in writing, over a sustained period of time. You will have no problem convincing the library staff of the need for renovated and additional space (at least if they don't fully appreciate the inevitable disruption). The students also will be eager support- ers, even though no current student is likely to benefit from the project. Most of your school's students visited other law schools when they were considering which to attend. Some of those libraries probably are bigger, look nicer, and have a better technological infrastructure than your library. Students also will have complaints about your facility: the lousy heating and cooling system, noisy computer labs, leaky faucets, and on and on. Many of these same complaints can be heard even in brand new libraries, but that doesn't make them any less real. Students also know a lot about rank. Because many students spend the better part of the day and night in the library, they understand that a new and improved facility could be a great attraction to others who are considering coming to your school. continued on page 2 2003 1

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