The Nomination Committee is pleased to present to the members of IALL the slate of candidates for election to the incoming Board, 2025-2028. This list comprises all those who nominated, and the positions for which they nominated. There is a personal statement written by each candidate to inform you of their proposed contribution to the work of IALL in the next three years. There are nine (9) nominees for seven (7) positions on the Board, and four (4) nominees for the 4 Officer positions.
Several current Board members made the decision not to stand for re-election. They are Kerem Kahvecioglu, Lyonette Louis-Jaques, Sonia Crenn, Chai Yee Xin and David Wills. We thank them for their contributions to IALL.
The election will occur between 14-16 April 2025. Members will receive an email with voting instructions before the election opens.
Nominations for Officer posts:
President
Mark Engsberg
Emory University Law Library, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Director of Library Services and Professor of Practice
I seek your support for a second term as IALL’s President. My leadership style is characterized by a belief that communication is essential to effective leadership. Thus, I welcome feedback honestly and with empathy wherever possible, I take your concerns and ideas seriously, and I seek consensus for important decisions.
IALL has achieved much during my term as President. Highlights are:
- Updating the IALL constitution, including expanding rights for members
- Securing conference venues through 2028
- Refreshing the IALL website and adding more content
My goals for the next three years include:
- Settling the future of the IJLI
- Securing conference venues through 2031
- Further diversifying IALL’s membership and Board
Thank you for your attention and your continued support
Vice President
Rebecca Josefine Five Bergstrøm
Law Library, University of Oslo
Academic Librarian
I am honoured to submit my candidacy for Vice-President of IALL, dedicated to supporting researchers, fostering collaboration, and advancing innovation in law librarianship.
As a two-term board member and blog editor, I have gained invaluable insight into the association’s mission and collaborated with several members. I have dedicated my time to modernising our visual identity and increasing information sharing through our blog and communications channels. I am enthusiastic about IALL as an arena for strengthening international collaboration, promoting diversity, and ensuring open access to knowledge and legal sources.
I also chaired the local planning committee for the annual Course in Oslo 2024. A valuable experience for continuing my work on the board and as board liaison for Cambridge, if re-elected.
Secretary
Michael McArthur
Duke Law School, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Assistant Director, Access and Collection
It is a privilege to be considered for the Secretary position on the IALL Board. I am the Assistant Director for Access and Collections at the Duke University School of Law.
I’ve been an active attendee since my first Annual Course in Buenos Aires and greatly value IALL’s role in fostering meaningful international collaboration and cross-cultural exchange. I wholeheartedly believe in the value of meeting annually, finding additional ways to share information, and in strengthening connections with colleagues across the globe. I hope to continue the strong work done by our current Secretary, and will be a dedicated, dependable, and engaged member of the Board. Thank you so much for your consideration.
Treasurer
Jean Wenger
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL, USA
Director of the Law Library & Teaching Professor
I am honored to stand for election for IALL Treasurer. I am the Director of the Chicago-Kent College of Law Library and, throughout my career, have been actively teaching and writing about FCIL research. As the current IALL Treasurer, I manage IALL’s financials. The Treasurer’s responsibilities include processing membership dues, Conference sponsorships, and registrations. The most satisfying aspect is interacting with IALL members as they join/renew, or register for the Conference. I served on the Grants, Finance, and Conference Committees. I am dedicated to sound fiscal management and collaboration and will focus on strategic approaches to growing and engaging IALL members. I would be privileged to continue to serve as your IALL Treasurer. Thank you.
Nominations for position as Board Members:
Vanessa Blackmore
Law Courts Library, NSW Department of Communities & Justice (Australia)
Manager, Law Courts Library
I am an experienced librarian committed to our global profession, with qualifications in law and management. I manage the Sydney Law Courts Library, providing legal library services to NSW courts.
I have attended fourteen IALL meetings, from Rome 1998 to Oslo 2024, and was on the Sydney 2019 local planning committee. I was president of the Australian Law Librarians Association and delivered papers on law librarianship.
I have served as a Board member since 2022. The highlight is chairing the Scholarships Committee, offering grants to promising librarians worldwide to attend IALL meetings.
If re-elected to the Board, I will bring experience and enthusiasm to promote the work of IALL, share knowledge, and advocate for access to legal information and education.
Juan-Andrés Fuentes
Harvard Law School Library, Librarian for Foreign, Comparative & International Law
I am the FCIL research librarian at Harvard. I am passionate about research, soccer, and languages. I speak Spanish, English, and French.
As a research librarian and author, I contribute to publications like the International Journal of Legal Information, IALL’s official publication, which welcomes contributions from its members. I want to promote collaborations among IALL members through scholarly articles, research guides, and blog posts.
Last year, I attended my first IALL Course in Norway. It was incredible: beautiful country, insightful course content, and interesting people. I am amazed by IALL’s multiculturalism and hope to expand membership in underrepresented regions while improving opportunities for all members to attend the conference.
I look forward to serving IALL’s community.
Edward T. Hart
University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law
Assistant Dean for Law Library
It is a privilege to be nominated to run for the Board. International Law has been an interest of mine since my undergraduate days and was a focus of much of my graduate studies cumulating in an LLM in EU Law. As an IALL member of 23 years, the membership’s primary benefit is networking with colleagues and sharing insights about international law librarianship. Building on my experiences in leadership roles in AALL, AALL chapters, and SALLD, I have the foundation for meeting the higher level of service required by this position to promote our association’s missions. I look forward to contributing back to IALL by serving on the Board.
Claudia Holland
Max-Planck Institute for comparative and international Private Law
Library Director
I have been a Board Member since 2022, serving as a member of the Grants and Communications Committees.
Three years ago I started as a newcomer. Now I want to continue my work on the Board with more background knowledge. My aims, among other things, are:
- promoting the networking of members in between the Annual conferences. That could be a member area on the website, where added value could shared (e.g. materials of the annual conferences; the members’ list, etc.)
- bringing new colleagues into IALL e.g. via the way of grants. Our work in the Grants Committee showed us the strong desire to come to annual conferences. But not everybody can afford it and this work is a way to increase the geographical diversity of IALL members
David Isom
Georgetown University Law Center
International & Foreign Law Reference Librarian
I am currently an International and Foreign Law Reference Librarian at Georgetown University Law Center. I have been a member of IALL since 2017 and have regularly attended the Annual Courses since joining. The opportunities IALL has provided me have been an important part of my development as a librarian, and it would be a privilege to serve an organization that has given me so much. I am passionate about IALL’s mission to foster an international community of law librarians and to support the work that they do around the world. I would be honored to serve as a member of the Board and would hope to continue IALL’s outreach efforts, especially beyond North America and Western Europe.
Andreas Knobelsdorf
University of Hamburg, Germany, Law Faculty Library
Law Librarian, subject specialist
The IALL has for good reasons a strong membership in the Anglo-American world. Yet even with further rifts opening between countries the IALL should get a broader scope of active members from countries hitherto underrepresented. The task is to identify local law librarians groups or individuals and approach and convince them of the benefits of a membership. Their first hand reports on legal and professional developments in their countries can be published and thus enlarge the knowledge and scope of all members. Whether the IALL can help them in their tasks can be discussed. Also, help in organising conferences is what I can offer to do.
Nathalie Matthey
Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
Head librarian
Convinced of the importance of our profession, at a time when access to information is becoming increasingly vital, I want to put my energy and enthusiasm at the service of the board to spread this idea.
Throughout my career, I have been involved in vocational training, both in companies and in courses for apprentices. I have worked in different cultural environments and languages, which has enabled me to develop my communication and interpersonal skills. This can be an asset to the board.
As a new member of IALL, I was immediately convinced of the strength and empowerment that this association brings to its members. I am applying with the desire to contribute to this movement at my own level.
Trung Quach
High Court of Australia
Manager, Reference and Research Services
I have served on the IALL Board as a general member from 2019-2022 and as Secretary this past term from 2022-2025. I have learned a lot about the organisation over this time and have identified areas that need improvement. These include: 1) the need to update IALL policies, which are not written anywhere except in Board minutes, 2) organising the IALL archives and deciding its permanent home, and 3) preparing a history of IALL for future reference. As Secretary, I have had too many other duties to take on these projects. If elected as a Board member, I plan on completing these projects for the benefit of IALL and its members.
Valentina Spiga
European University Institute, Library, Italy
Law Information Specialist
I am honoured to stand for election to the IALL Board. As a law librarian at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, I work in a multinational and multicultural academic community, supporting legal research and information access. With a background in legal research, I bring both practical and academic perspectives to legal librarianship.
I am truly passionate about information literacy, new technologies, and user engagement, and I strive to make legal scholarship and information more accessible and impactful.
Always eager to learn from colleagues, I believe in the power of collaboration and knowledge-sharing. If elected, I will actively contribute to expanding IALL’s initiatives, promoting networking and exchanges, and supporting the professional growth of our community.