February 11, 2013

Sonnet to a Supplement

A book in our library has more to it than just its bound pages. We'll typically update 25 to 30 titles each week with looseleaf filing, pocket parts, or standalone supplements that get shelved next to their main volumes.

It's those last - individually bound supplements - that tend to get missed when a treatise is pulled from the shelf for reading or checkout. That's why our mission this month is to educate our users on those most useful and most-missed volumes. And so we bring you...



Sonnet to a Supplement

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee for the newest case law,
And your fresh legal argument mainstays
Bring updates to the useful book I saw.
Benchbooks stay current with lots of filing.
ALR’s pocket parts are beguiling.
But when you’re bound in a separate book
You can be very easy to overlook.

Corbin on Contracts, Wigmore on Evidence
Where would they be without a supplement?
Bound, shelved adjacent, you form a circle
For the researcher, law past to present.

When pulled from the shelf, there can be no doubt.
I shall love thee far better after checkout.

Happy Valentine's Day!