Law may be considered as an intellectual construction and thus an object of theoretical study or as a social science and thus to be studied in its social setting or it may be considered as a technique. Whatever view may be taken, it is suggested that the raison d'être of the law is to bring about the greatest measure of peace and justice. It is this which gives it its greatest importance and its dignity. Whatever view may be taken however, and for whatever purpose the law may be either studied or applied, it is undeniable that its study and application will become more effective by an increase of information about it.

Law libraries are the stepchildren of legal and general library literature. This observation made by Kurt Schwerin a decade ago is still valid in the Federal Republic of Germany. No comprehensive publications exist to describe the history, current status or the prospective tasks of our law libraries. The few articles published on the topic describe only one library or one group of libraries. The reports published by juridical institutes often contain useful information on the respective libraries. Another source of information on law libraries may be found in the guides published by several law libraries to facilitate the use of their holdings.

At a conference on Law Librarianship held at Harrogate in 1968 the question of forming some sort of Association was tentatively discussed. It was felt by all present that there was need for an association that could bring law librarians together to discuss aspects of their work and so provide a common pool of experience and knowledge in which all who were interested might share. It was also suggested by some that the Association should become a group within an existing organisation and that membership should be confined accordingly. This, however, was not thought advisable for to do so would have meant excluding from membership almost all the great law libraries of the British Isles as well as the majority of their staffs. It would also have meant excluding many potential members from the smaller libraries, particulary those of a professional nature. And this itself would have been a negation of one of the principal purposes of the association, which was to embrace all who were interested in law librarianship, who worked professionally in law libraries and who were concerned with improvements in everything which tended to their administration and their service they offered.

The British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) was formed in 1969, during a period of great critical self-examination in the British library world. On the library scene as a whole, ad hoc remedies had, for some time, been applied to the deficiencies of a system which had evolved out of a more static age, and it was widely apparent that the whole machinery required overhaul and rationalisation at national level if scarce resources were to be effectively used, and if the expensive new technologies were to be fully utilised by libraries of all kinds and sizes throughout the country. The appointment of the Dainton Committee in March, 1969, to examine the role of the national libraries, was the Government's response to this situation and was the culmination of a series of earlier enquiries into both public and university libraries. The principal recommendation in the report of this Committee – for a unified national library organisation to administer several previously autonomous bodies – was clearly one which, if accepted, would affect all types of library, including law libraries. The earlier history of law libraries in this country had been one of relative isolationism – a reflection, perhaps, of the profession they served. But times were changing rapidly and many libraries were facing new challenges, often with inadequate staff or financial support. Increasingly, the problems could be solved only by sensible policies of co-ordination and co-operation between libraries. Clearly one of the most urgent tasks of the new Association was to establish co-ordinated policies for such co-operation and to formulate an agreed approach vis à vis national developments.

Librarianship is comparatively one of the latest professions in Nigeria. The relative scarcity of libraries can therefore be fully appreciated. Librarians anywhere in the world have never earned recognition for the mere asking: recognition has to be fought for through all channels of communication, by inundating the State House with tons and tons of petitions and memoranda and occasionally by triggering off a small storm of public discussion on the subject. Nigerian librarians have fought successfully to gain recognition in the universities and other institutions of higher learning, by pressuring the Federal Government for a national library of repute. This struggle was brought to a glorious end by the magnanimous National Library Decree of 1970. In the sphere of public and school librarianship, obvious evidence exists proving state neglect and indifference. The main preoccupation of the Nigerian Library Association at the moment is to convince the Nigerian Federal and State Governments of the value and usefulness of library services so that library development may attract a substantial vote for their annual budget. Librarians thus still expend their energy on writing petitions and memoranda and on sending deputations to the authorities. This period of consolidation demands that all efforts should be harnessed and directed into building up a dynamic and formidable National Library Association so as to put librarianship generally on a proper footing. Professional associations for specialized libraries, other than an all-embracing Association, do not exist in Nigeria. An Association for Law Librarians, as desirable as it is, will have to wait till a more sophisticated library system is organized in Nigeria.