“This award recognizes an individual who has completed or is nearing completion of an active professional career for ‘outstanding, extended, and sustained service to law librarianship, to the Association, or for contributions to the professional literature,” wrote Frank G. Houdek, chair of the AALL Awards Committee. “Needless to say, Tim Coggins more than qualifies on all counts.”
Coggins joined the Richmond Law team in 1997 as director of the law library and associate professor. He became professor in 2003 and associate dean in 2004. Prior to joining the Richmond Law faculty, Coggins worked at the University of Alabama School of Law and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.
“Tim is one of the finest library directors in the country and has built a truly outstanding law library for us here,” said Wendy Perdue, dean of the law school. “His commitment to excellence leaves a lasting legacy and he is a model for library directors everywhere.”
As associate dean, Coggins directs the Muse Law Library, a resource center that is home to more than 430,000 volumes. He also teaches legal research courses. Coggins will retire this summer. During his tenure he has led efforts to bolster collections and improve the physical space, all the while managing major shifts in technology and the increasingly seamless integration of library staff into the classroom.
Coggins said he’s very proud of the individuals who work in the library because they are the ones who contribute significantly to make the facility run smoothly.
“I think over the years we’ve been able to add great, new people who come in and work collaboratively with the people who have been here many years to create a very focused, user services group of individuals,” Coggins said. “Our students rate us very high on all kinds of surveys about service.”
Coggins will receive the award at this summer’s AALL Annual Meeting and Conference in Philadelphia. This is not his first honor from the AALL. He has also received four presidential certificates of merit from the organization, and in 2004 was the recipient of the Frederick Hicks Award for outstanding service in academic law librarianship. In 2011, Coggins was inducted into the AALL Hall of Fame.
(Photo credit: Casey Templeton)
