Laura N. “Lolly” Gasaway

About Laura N. “Lolly” Gasaway

Laura N. “Lolly” Gasaway was the director of the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library at the UNC School of Law from 1985 to 2006 and a Professor of Law from 1985 to 2013, when she became Professor Emerita. Professor Gasaway’s career in law librarianship and legal education stretched across five decades, and in addition to holding law library directorships at two other institutions, Professor Gasaway served as President of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) in 1986-1987 as well as in many other distinguished service capacities. She has been a prolific scholar in the area of copyright law and shaped policy as a member and leader of copyright committees at the university, regional, and national level.

In 2012, an oral history interview with Professor Gasaway, in which she discusses her career in detail, was recorded and a companion profile of her accomplishments was prepared by Frank G. Houdek. For a view on Professor Gasaway’s time as AALL President and with the organization, see Frank G. Houdek, “Laura N. Gasaway,” in AALL History through the Eyes of Its Presidents, 98 Law Libr. J. 299, 321-22.

In 2018, the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library at the UNC School of Law named its Graduate Assistantship in honor of Professor Gasaway.

More detailed information about Lolly’s career and accomplishments follows on this page.

Career: Law Library Director and Professor of Law

Professor Gasaway was Director of the Law Library and a member of the faculty at the University of Houston from 1973-1975, before becoming Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma, serving from 1975-1984. In 1985, Professor Gasaway began her 21-year tenure as Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law at the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library of UNC Chapel Hill School of Law. In 2006, she became Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, serving until 2010. In 2013, she became Paul B. Eaton Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita.

Service to Law Librarianship, Legal Education, and Copyright Policy

  • Chair, AALL Recruitment Committee, 1973-74
  • President, Southwestern Association of Law Libraries, 1974-76
  • Vice-Chair, AALL Education Committee, 1975-77
  • Chair, Program Committee for 1978 AALL Annual Meeting
  • Chair, AALL Copyright Committee
  • Chair, AALL Taskforce on Nominating Procedures, 1982-84
  • AALL Vice President/President-Elect, 1985-86
  • AALL President, 1986-87
  • AALL Immediate Past President, 1987-88
  • Member, ABA Accreditation Committee, 1987-1995
  • Chair, AALL Special Committee to Advance the Fair Use of Electronic Information Resources in Law Libraries and by Law Librarians, 1994-96
  • Member, Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, 1997-2002
  • Chair, AALL Centennial Planning Task Force, 2001-02
  • Chair, University of North Carolina Faculty Assembly, 2004-2006
  • Co-chair, Section 108 Study Group, U.S. Copyright Office & Library of Congress, 2005-2009

Awards and Honors

  • H.W. Wilson Award, Special Libraries Association, 1983 and 2004
  • John Cotton Dana Award, Special Libraries Association, 1987
  • Distinguished Alumnae Award, Texas Woman’s University, 1988
  • Fellow, Special Libraries Association, 1988
  • Marta Lange/CQ Press Award, Association of College & Research Libraries, American Library Association, 1998
  • American Association of Law Libraries Presidential Certificate of Appreciation, 2000
  • American Association of Law Libraries Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award, 2011
  • American Association of Law Libraries Hall of Fame Inductee, 2011

Selected Works of Scholarship

Selected Articles, Essays, and Book Chapters

Selected Books

N.C. Journal of Law & Technology: Lolly N. Gasaway Tribute

In 2010, the North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology, which Professor Gasaway was instrumental in founding, devoted an issue to her career and accomplishments. Links to each article written in honor of Professor Gasaway in the special issue are included below:

Laura N. Gasaway Graduate Assistantship

In a ceremony in May 2018, the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library at the UNC School of Law named its Graduate Assistantship in honor of Professor Gasaway.