State Law Librarian Rob Mead on Expanding Access to WSBA Deskbooks
BY KATRINA MULLIGAN
The Washington State Bar Association’s Deskbooks—written by expert, volunteer attorneys—have long been recognized as authoritative resources on Washington law. Traditionally available for purchase through LexisNexis and vLex, they are now more accessible than ever. Thanks to a new partnership with the Washington State Law Library, legal professionals and the public have expanded lending access to the entire digital Deskbook catalogue for free. We spoke with Rob Mead, the Washington State Law Librarian, about this collaboration, the evolving role of law libraries, and what expanded access means for the legal community.
SHORT BIO
Rob Mead became the Washington State Law Librarian in 2016. He also teaches the paralegal research and writing classes at South Puget Sound Community College. Prior to 2016, he served as the New Mexico Deputy Chief Public Defender and the New Mexico State Law Librarian. He has a J.D. from the University of New Mexico and an MLS from Emporia State University.
Background & Context
Q. Could you tell us a little about the Washington State Law Library and the services they provide to legal professionals and the public?
The Washington State Law Library is part of the Washington Supreme Court and is located in the Temple of Justice in Olympia. In addition to acting as the librarians for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, we are open to the public 9 a.m.–4 p.m. on weekdays and answer questions from attorneys and the general public across Washington. You can send reference questions to library.requests@courts.wa.gov or call 360-357-2156. We frequently answer questions about legislative history and rules history. We also point researchers to helpful treatises and will mail books to Washington legal professionals. We have the briefs-in-chief for published cases from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals and will scan and send them to patrons. We blog at www.medium.com/walawlibrary and are active on social media.
Q. What is your role as head librarian, and what drew you to law librarianship?
As the State Law Librarian, my primary role is to provide administrative support and supervision for my team of excellent librarians. I also serve on a number of judicial committees including the Washington Pattern Forms Committee and the Public Education and Engagement Committee. I enjoy the access-to-justice aspect of law librarianship and the art of building collections. In addition to being a public defender and disability rights attorney, I was the state law librarian for New Mexico and an academic law librarian at the University of New Mexico and the University of Kansas.
Deskbooks Partnership
Q. Why is it important for all Washingtonians—legal practitioners and the public alike—to have access to Deskbooks?
Deskbooks have been available physically in Washington’s law libraries for decades. Who, historically, has been checking out those resources? The Deskbooks are heavily used by both attorneys and self-represented litigants. They are one of two major sets that provide the best information regarding Washington law.
Q. How has online lending changed accessibility to Deskbooks for Washingtonians across the state?
Our e-books are available for checkout anywhere that a patron has an internet connection. Sometimes there is a list of people waiting (“holds,” in librarian lingo) but the Deskbooks are also available in print at our library and many of the county law libraries. Problem-solve with our reference librarians if you need quicker access.
Q. Have you seen an uptick in usage as we have started to advertise the new partnership between the Law Library and the WSBA? Are there any particular demographics of legal practitioners that you are encouraging to come log in and give Deskbooks a try?
Absolutely, we’ve added over 300 new WSBA members as patrons since June! This is about a 37 percent increase in just a few months. We’d love to have more. Deskbooks are particularly helpful when developing competence in a new area of law and for civil attorneys working in rural areas who may be one of the only attorneys available to a potential client. We love questions from all lawyers, but especially from those who are standing in the gap to represent folks who wouldn’t otherwise have an attorney.
Personal & Forward Looking
Q. What do you enjoy most about your work as a law librarian?
I love making the law more accessible. Sometimes this involves buying new books or databases. Sometimes this requires connecting a patron with a resource that explains an area of law. Sometimes this requires hard work to remove barriers, such as sending information to people incarcerated in jails and prisons.
Q. What’s something about the job of a law librarian that most people would be surprised to learn about?
We are in a period of “now but not yet” with digital publishing of legal information. A lot of things are available online, if you have a significant research budget and access to multiple vendors such as Bloomberg Industry Group or HeinOnline. Even Westlaw or LexisNexis only provide a portion of available titles. Print law libraries still have a lot of useful sources that have not been digitized. In our collection, that includes Washington bills and appellate briefs prior to the 1990s.
Q. Is there a particular patron or research request or project that stands out as especially meaningful for you over the years?
We love supporting the judiciary’s commissions. The library helped with the 2025 Disability Justice Report from the Washington Supreme Court Disability Justice Task Force and the 2021: How Gender and Race Affect Justice Now report from the Gender & Justice Commission.
Q. What advice would you give attorneys who may not be in the habit of using the Washington State Law Library?
Give us a try. We’re likely to have information that you didn’t know existed and it may save you significant time and effort.
Q. Looking ahead, what developments or innovations in legal research are you most excited about?
Like everyone else, AI has my full attention. We’re getting calls at the reference desk asking us to verify citations that people found using generative AI. Remember that AI is not good yet at legal logic and generative AI is not really a good research tool. Most generative AI has not yet conquered the hallucination problem—even if a citation is real, the case may not hold what the AI says that it holds. Proceed with great caution. But there is also great promise. Again, the phrase “now but not yet” is pretty accurate.
About the author
Katrina Mulligan is the senior legal editor at the Washington State Bar Association. She can be reached at: