A sidebar with … Aletha Honsowitz

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After spending over 40 years with Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, Aletha Honsowitz has said goodbye to her longtime employer.

Honsowitz began her career as a circulation team leader in 1977 and retired Sept. 4 as head of public services at the school’s Grand Rapids campus.

She spoke with Michigan Lawyers Weekly to review her career and how WMU-Cooley has changed over the past 40 years.

How did you start your career at WMU-Cooley?

I started as a circulation team leader, which means I worked the circulation desk, checked books in and out, emptied out the Xerox machine of all the coins that were dropped in to make photocopies, and manually signing books in and out on library cards.

Because I worked Saturdays, I was the only full-time staff person there, so I would get all of the reference questions from the students and public. I felt very inadequate because I didn’t know the first thing about the law or very much about research other than what I picked up in college.

I took it upon myself to go to Lansing Community College and take a legal research class as part of their paralegal program. I discovered that I really liked that a lot, so I decided to go back to library school and get a library degree. Once I did that, Cooley promoted me to law librarian, then I discovered I really like working at a law library.

At that time, I decided to go to law school, so I started law school in 1986 and graduated in 1990. I then got two more promotions.

How did you end up in Grand Rapids?

I lived in the Lansing area pretty much all my life, but there was nothing holding me there anymore. I had done my student teaching in Grand Rapids years before then, so I knew I could live there.

I took the opportunity to take a promotion there and I’ve been there since May 2003.

Did you ever want to practice law while you were in law school?

I never had a desire to practice law. Absolutely never. I did not go to law school at all with the idea of becoming an attorney. I only went because I wanted to make myself a better law librarian for the students.

I wanted to understand when they asked me an eminent domain question, that I knew what eminent domain is. I didn’t have a clue. I wanted to make myself more knowledgeable so that I could be a better law librarian for our students and faculty.

What is one big evolution of WMU-Cooley that you’ve seen occur through your 40 years there?

The services that are provided for the students have increased dramatically. I’m not just talking about more student organizations, I’m talking about services that benefit the students educationally.

There was no law review or job placement program when I started, and these are things that are helping students grow.

There has also been a commitment of faculty to learn about assessments and to provide assessment opportunities so students can receive feedback.

When I started law school, you had one exam at the end of the class. You were tested on everything from the entire semester, and whatever grade you got on the exam was your grade for that class.

Now the students get feedback continually throughout the term. It’s just so much different now. There’s commitment from the faculty and administration to see our students succeed, not just pass the bar, but succeed as attorneys.

How did you end up teaching a couple of courses at the school?

The library has always given presentations on computer-assisted research that would be two, three-hour classes. We would teach two out of the 14 weeks of classes. We have done that since about 1983. Since 2014, the library started offering more credit electives in advanced legal research, so we started teaching those one-credit courses.

Which part of all of your roles at WMU-Cooley did you enjoy the most?

Working with the students, whether it was through teaching, at the reference desk, for what we call the teachable moment at the reference desk, when they kind of get the “ah-ha” moment when you finally see the light go on in their eyes to realize how important this is.

Do you have any specific plans for retirement?

I’ve seen all 50 states with the exception of four, and I’m going to visit three of them in the northeast this month.

I’ve thought about writing a novel. I love Amish fiction so it would be great to explore that as an option. I’ve been thinking about writing something around that genre.