Date: Thursday, May 14, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET/1:00 PM– 2:00 PM CT/12:00 PM – 1:00 PM MT/11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PT
Section on Law Libraries & Legal Information
This webinar will focus on the ABA’s site evaluations as part of the law school accreditation process. Amy Emerson (Villanova) and Faye Jones (Illinois) will provide reflections as academic law library directors who have recently served as site evaluators. Shamika Dalton (Colorado) and Amanda Runyon (Penn) will provide reflections as academic law library directors whose schools have recently undergone a site evaluation. Catherine Dunn (Denver) will moderate the panel and recommends that participants review Chapter 6 of the ABA’s 2025-2026 Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools before the webinar.
Shamika Dalton, William A. Wise Law Library Director and Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School
Shamika Dalton began her career as a reference librarian at the University of Florida Levin College of Law Legal Information Center in 2012 and rose through the ranks to become the associate director for public services and professor of legal research. She has dedicated her research and professional service to celebrating the contributions of law librarians of color, educating the profession about the importance of racial diversity, and advocating for cultural competency in legal research instruction.
In July 2019, Professor Dalton received the Joseph L. Andrews Award for her book, Celebrating Diversity: A Legacy of Minority Leadership in the American Association of Law Libraries (2nd edition).
Amy Emerson, Professor of Law and Assistant Dean for Library and Information Services, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Amy A. Emerson is Assistant Dean for Library and Information Services and Professor of Law at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Emerson manages law library operations and strategic planning, oversees the legal research curriculum, and teaches courses in law and technology. Her course Leveraging Technology to Promote Access to Justice was named a top ten law school innovation by Bloomberg Law.
Emerson’s personal scholarship interests draw upon her decade of experience as an attorney and focus on open access to legal information as it informs access to justice. She serves as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), co-organizer of the Philadelphia Chapter of Legal Hackers, a site visit team member for the American Bar Association (ABA) Section on Legal Education, an advisory board member of the Yale Law School Law Archive, a member of the Villanova University AI Working Group, and a member of the advisory council to VU Women in Tech. She has additionally served on the executive board of the Technology, Law, and Legal Education Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), past chair of the Government Relations Committee of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), past president of the Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York, and as a founding officer of the International Legal Research Interest Group of the American Society of International Law.
Emerson received her BA with honors from Wells College, and dual JD and MLS degrees with honors from Syracuse University.
Faye E. Jones, Director, Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Memorial Law Library and Clinical Professor of Law, University of Illinois College of Law
Faye Jones joined the University of Illinois College of Law in 2015 as director of the Albert E. Jenner Law Library and Clinical Professor of Law. She has more than 30 years of experience as a law librarian and law teacher. Her focus at Illinois is to develop faculty research support programs, expand the legal research curriculum for students, and teach substantive and legal research courses, including Privacy and Cybersecurity Law, Advanced Legal Research, and Introduction to Legal Research.
Prior to joining Illinois, Professor Jones worked at the Florida State University College of Law, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law; University of California, Hastings College of the Law; and the University of Puget Sound School of Law.
Professor Jones also served on active and reserve duty with the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. She earned the Navy Achievement Medal for leadership as Commanding Officer, VTU-Law 2207, and retired with the rank of Commander. She is admitted to practice in Florida and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. She earned her undergraduate degree in Library Science cum laude and her Masters of Library Science from the Florida State University, and her law degree at Nova Southeastern University.
Amanda Runyon, Associate Dean, Director of Biddle Law Library, and Lecturer in Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Amanda Runyon is the Associate Dean and Director of the Biddle Law Library at Penn Carey Law, where she leads one of the nation’s premier law libraries. Under her leadership, the library delivers innovative services and curates a world-class research collection that supports the evolving needs of present and future legal scholars and students.
A dedicated educator, Amanda serves as a Lecturer in Law at Penn Carey Law, teaching a variety of advanced legal research courses. She also brings her expertise to the University of Washington’s Information School, where she teaches the capstone Leadership and Management in Law Libraries course.
Her research examines the evolving role of law libraries in legal education and democratic society. She explores topics such as assessment in legal education, the future of law library collections, leadership and organizational development in law libraries, and the legal frameworks that protect libraries as institutions of public trust. Her work also investigates how libraries foster democratic engagement and equitable access to information. Her scholarship has earned multiple awards for its impact and excellence
Amanda’s career spans top-tier law schools, including the University of Michigan and the University of Texas, where she held key roles in faculty services, reference, and library management. Before entering law librarianship, she practiced law in the public sector, serving in the legal department of the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.
She holds a JD from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, an MLIS from the University of Washington, and a BBA from Eastern Michigan University.
A recognized leader in the profession, Amanda is deeply engaged in national law library organizations, helping shape the future of legal information access and policy. She has held leadership roles in the Society of Academic Law Library Directors, the Society of Academic Law Librarians, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the NELLCO Law Library Consortium.
Catherine Dunn, Associate Dean of Law Library and Information Science and Professor of the Practice of Law, University of Denver, Sturm College of Law
Professor Catherine M. Dunn oversees the operations of the Westminster Law Library at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Her scholarly interests include legal information policy, library management, legal research pedagogy, and alternative dispute resolution.
Professor Dunn joined the faculty in 2017 after serving as Director of the Law Library & Associate Professor of Law at the Temple University Beasley School of Law, Head of Reference Services at the UConn School of Law Library, and a Reference Librarian at the Georgetown University Law Library. She taught a variety of upper-level legal research courses at her prior institutions, as well as a mandatory, graded introductory research course for first-year students at the University of Maryland School of Law. She regularly experiments with new teaching methods and tools in an effort to create an effective environment for skills-based learning. She also writes, presents, and serves in a variety of leadership roles in law librarianship at the national and local levels.
Before becoming a law librarian, Professor Dunn worked as an associate for two law firms in Chicago, Schiff Hardin LLP and Berger Schatz, and she served as a judicial clerk for Justice Ann Walsh Bradley of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
