Legislation signed in 1983 marked the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a federal holiday. It is celebrated on the third Monday of each January. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service, now led by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

This year, the NYLS community is honoring Dr. King’s legacy through a service project for God’s Love We Deliver on January 24, 2020.  NYLS students and staff will be volunteering to assist in the preparation and delivery of nutritious, high-quality meals to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses, who are unable to provide or prepare meals for themselves. The effort is being organized by NYLS’s Impact Center for Public Interest Law.

Through our subscription to HeinOnline, you can now access Hein’s Presidential Impeachment Library, an online collection bringing “together a variety of documents both contemporaneous and asynchronous to each president’s impeachment, presenting both a snapshot of the political climate as each impeachment played out and the long view history has taken of each proceeding.” The collection will continue to grow as the current impeachment process plays out.

For the twelfth consecutive year, the Mendik Library surveyed 1Ls during First Week about some of their digital inclinations. For the complete survey and how they compare to results over the past five years, click here. For results back to 2007, click here.

Spoiler alert—pepperoni once again repeated as the most popular pizza topping, this time based on the preferences of 366 members of the classes of 2022/23. These students also responded to questions about:

• their preferred platforms for electronic communication;

• their usage of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, Blogs & Podcasts;

• the digital devices they owned and used, including Macs v. PCs, Smartphones, Tablets and E-Book Readers.

Some highlights:

Communication

• Text messaging remains the dominant preference at 77%, four points lower than the previous year. Email saw a slight uptick from 11% to 16%.

Social Media

• Instagram continues to dominate (56%) as the social networking platform of choice for these students. Only 11% labeled Facebook as the social networking platform they used most often.

Preferred Devices

• When it comes to the computer students use most often, Macs are favored over PCs 3:1.

E-Books

• Roughly 70% of students reported having used an e-textbook for undergraduate or graduate school classes, an increase from 62% in the previous year.

• Significantly, only 17% of students preferred using an e-textbook to a print textbook, which is consistent with data from prior years.

Pizza

• Pepperoni continues to reign supreme as students’ favorite pizza topping, pulling in 26% of the vote. Extra cheese was its closest competitor at 19%, followed by mushrooms at 11%.

Exam period is here and your easygoing nature probably is diminishing quickly. Little things that you ignored last week are a big deal today. So, if it bugs you, say something.

Tell us about the light bulb over your favorite study spot that is out or the outlet that doesn’t work. Or the person with the malodorous lunch or dinner. Or the guy in the stairwell talking on his cell phone at full volume.

If you see, hear, or smell something, say something. It’s your library and you are here to study without distractions. Let us help do that. Contact the Reference Desk at 212.431.2332, the Circulation Desk at 212.431.2333, or email us at reference@nyls.edu

GovTrack.us offers the impeachment.guide, an online guide tracking the impeachment inquiry of President Trump.  It contains a complete chronology, beginning in 2018 and ending with last week’s public hearings.  It also provides links to key documents, identifies possible charges the President may face and offers background on how the impeachment and removal process works. The guide will be updated on an ongoing basis.

As exams approach the demand for study rooms increases. Please remember that these rooms are for group, not individual, study. If you are by yourself in a group study room, you should be prepared to be asked by a fellow student or a librarian to yield the room to a group wanting to use it. Students are encouraged to seek assistance from a librarian by contacting reference@nyls.edu.

Remember also that attempting to “reserve” a group study room by leaving personal belongings in the room and then disappearing is inconsiderate and wrong.  Please cooperate.

Let us help polish off your research!  The Mendik Library has scheduled 30-minute research “open houses” at 1:00-1:30 p.m. on November 11-14 and November 18-21, all in room L203. If those times don’t work you can always get research help from the librarians at the reference desk, either in person, by email (reference@nyls.edu) or by phone (212.431.2332).

You don’t want to miss the Halloween Info Hunt drawing on Thursday 10/31.  Great prizes and sweets too!  No costume required (but welcome).  Pick up an entry form at the library reference desk or download it here and view the online slides.

Happy soon-to-be-Halloween from the Mendik Library!

As an early Halloween treat, here’s your opportunity to WIN great study aids, law dictionaries, faculty books, pre-loaded OneCards, NYLS swag, and who knows what else!  Just answer the 6 Haunted Halloween Info Hunt questions. Your answers don’t need to be perfect—just close!

Click here to access the questions.  Each slide includes just one question, along with step-by-step instructions that will get you to the answer.

Print this answer sheet (or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk) and drop it the Raffle Drum on the Reference Desk by 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 31, and then join us outside the library at 5:45 p.m. for some sweet treats and the drawing.

Over on the SCOTUSblog, Prof. Stephen Wermiel offers a quick review of the debate dividing the justices about when to overrule constitutional precedent and when to follow it.  It’s a debate he describes as certain to continue when the Court begins its new term on Monday.  Read the post here.