My first memory of BIALL goes back to pre-BIALL when, with regret, I turned down the suggestion from my employers that I attend the second Harrogate Workshop in April 1969 because I had a small child whom I did not wish to leave.
The second memory is the meeting held in the basement in the old IALS building in Russell Square in September 1969. This was the first AGM, the Association having been founded at that second Harrogate Workshop. It was crowded; it was hot; and issues of the Association's name and its independence or affiliation with another organisation were vehemently debated. It attracted people with all levels of qualifications and at least one solicitor in charge of a provincial law society library. A strong sense emerged that to satisfy all these interests would require an independent association. And BIALL was set up free of ties to existing organisations.
During the following year, the constitution was re-drafted and administrative procedures drawn up. Members were recruited (including law publishers); a journal The Law Librarian was started (with help from Butterworths and Allan Appleby of Sweet & Maxwell); and a conference organised. Many of us were encouraged by our employers to take part in BIALL. Unfortunately some members were not backed in this way and one had to withdraw from committee attendance.
In the second year, a committee was set up to work on what today would be called an action plan. At the time, few services were tailored to the needs of law libraries and librarians so that BIALL had an almost blank canvas on which to work. The Report on Co-operation described the law library scene, and set out what was needed and achievable. Its central aim was to provide law librarians with the tools of their trade. A wider aim, although not explicitly stated, was to be a voice in the library and legal communities.
Committees were set up in 1971 to implement the recommendations of the Report and other initiatives of the Executive Committee. They were the vehicles for BIALL's work, then and now. By 1980, in addition to the journal and annual conference, BIALL's activities included a duplicates' exchange scheme, memoranda to decision-makers on matters concerning law libraries, three books, training courses, a meeting with medical librarians and budding contact with overseas associations.
Each of us who were there will have our own preference for the most significant achievement. Mine is the publications. The first was a Bibliography of EC law, aimed to provide a checklist of sources to coincide with joining the Common Market in 1972. The Directory of Law Libraries in 1976 helped to develop the network of mutual assistance. For me, the highpoint was the Manual of Law Librarianship. Here was the authoritative reference source that we needed. The production of these books in such a short space of time is particularly impressive because the massive amount of work was done in the pre-computer age: all work was typewritten and all communications by letter, telephone or meetings.
Looking with hindsight at BIALL's activities in the 1970s, I wonder how they were accomplished as so much was initiated simultaneously. The answer, of course, is through sheer hard work on the part of a high proportion of the membership. The names of Wallace Breem and Betty Moys stand out as officers and committee chairs throughout the decade. Muriel Anderson, Mary Blake, Don Daintree, John Jeffries, Robert Logan, Charlotte Lutyens, Edward Miller, Don Raistrick, Paul Richardson, David Shaw, Willi Steiner and Derek Way all served terms as officers or committee chairs. They were aided by fifty or more BIALL members as committee members, local representatives and conference organisers, many of them doubling up on several roles. You could say that nothing changes - that's how it is today. The significance is that so many people, who did not know each other, instantly recognised the advantages of the new organisation and wanted to take part.
The growth of overseas contacts was probably due to circumstances rather than a plan on BIALL's part. Similar national law library associations were emerging in the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Several BIALL members belonged to AALL and IALL. Our ‘big cousin’ AALL took notice of BIALL and sent delegates to conferences.
The legacy of 1970s' BIALL can still be seen today. It set standards of inclusivity, participation, communication, networking and hard work that remain BIALL's hallmark.
