ANNAPOLIS (April 21, 2003) – The Maryland State Law Library will be holding a series of lectures over the next two years to celebrate the library’s 175 years of service to the state. The first lecture in the series will be held at 12:00 p.m. on April 25, 2003, at the Maryland State Law Library, located in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building: 361 Rowe Blvd, Annapolis, Md. The lecture will feature Shelley Dowling, head librarian at the U.S. Supreme Court, who will be speaking on, “A Brief History of Law Libraries”. 

Dowling, who has been librarian of the Supreme Court since 1989, recently presented a similar lecture at the Jenkins Law Library in Philadelphia on the occasion of their 200th anniversary. Her career has spanned academic, public and government libraries, and she has written on a variety of subjects, including the history of law librarianship. 

“We are honored to have Shelley Dowling present this fascinating subject as we kick off our lecture series,” said Michael Miller, director for the Maryland State Law Library. “In the future, we plan on inviting equally interesting and notable people who will speak on a variety of current and historical issues.”

Tentative topics for future lectures include judicial independence in Maryland; the value of unpublished Maryland court opinions in legal research; elder law in Maryland; Maryland’s Bill of Rights from 1776 to 2002; and the future of legal research. Dates and speakers will be announced throughout the year. 

Media are invited to attend. For more information on this event or to RSVP, please contact Catherine McGuire by phone at 410/260-1557 or by email at catherine.mcguire@courts.state.md.us.