Professor Roy M. Mersky
(1925 - 2008)
AUSTIN, TEXAS (October 9, 2008) –The Tarlton Law Library is pleased to announce it has published the oral history of long-time director of the law library and faculty member of the law school, Roy M. Mersky (b. 1925 – d. 2008). This oral history is the ninth issue of the Tarlton Law Library Oral History Series. The publication helps to document the history of the University of Texas School of Law and the legal history of Texas and the United States.
Tarlton Law Library Oral History Series No. 9. Roy M. Mersky: An Oral History Interview. 2008. 75 pages. $25.
Roy M. Mersky was the director of the law library and a faculty member at the University of Texas School of Law for over 40 years (1966-2008), where he held the Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law. He was an author of, and contributor to, scores of books and articles, and was acknowledged in many more texts written by others. He was a frequent speaker both in the United States and abroad on legal research, the history of the United States Supreme Court, law and language, law in popular culture, and rare law books. He served as the interim director of the Jewish National and University Library of Hebrew University during his sabbatical in 1972-3 and as acting director of the New York Law School Library in 1982-4. He consulted on the construction and organization of many law schools.
Professor Mersky was a member of numerous associations and honorary societies, including the Texas Philosophical Society, the American Law Institute, and the American Society for International Law. Among the many honors he received were the 2005 Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award from AALL and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and the Information Studies Alumni Association’s Centennial Celebration Alumnus of the Year Award. In 2003, Mersky was named one among the 50 most innovative librarians working today by the Library Journal. In 2008 he was awarded posthumously the Frederick O. Hicks Award by the ALL-SIS, and the Spirit of Law Librarianship Award that he founded with Richard Leiter was renamed in his honor.
In this oral history Professor Mersky discusses his service in WWII; his education at the University of Wisconsin; his library experiences at Yale, the Washington State Law Library, and the University of Colorado; his involvement in the struggles for civil rights; and his many years and activities at the University of Texas, including visiting positions and consultancies around the world, developing law-trained librarians, and his passions for history and collecting.
To purchase this publication, and to find out about the other publications of the Tarlton Law Library, visit the Library's TxShop page, email , or contact Publications Coordinator, Tarlton Law Library, Jamail Center for Legal Research, The University of Texas at Austin, 727 E. Dean Keeton St., Austin, TX 78705, phone (512) 471-7735, fax (512) 471-0243 .