John Hobbins to receive 2010 Library Career Recognition Award
The Faculty of Law was delighted to learn recently that our esteemed colleague Alan T. John Hobbins, BA'66, MLS'68, (left on photo) will be awarded the 2010 Library Career Recognition Award. The prize will be presented to him during Law's Spring Convocation on June 4, 2010 at 10 a.m.
In addition to his distinguished service as Law Librarian between 2003 and 2009, John Hobbins served twice (1988-1990 and 2000-2003) as Acting Director of the Law Library. During his tenure, he constantly sought to improve user services, and by fostering an atmosphere of collegiality, built the strong bond that today unites the Law Library and the Faculty of Law.
Daniel Boyer, BA'79, MLIS'88, who succeeded John Hobbins as Head Librarian of the Nahum Gelber Law Library last year, described Hobbins as the "Lord Protector of the Law Library."
Emeritus professor Stephen A. Scott, BA'61, BCL'66, declared that "John Hobbins is not only a man of wide erudition, but a loyal and skilled colleague. He has come to the aid of the Law Faculty at least twice in our time of need. He has shown his dedication to our mission - and his esprit de corps - by his fine writing on the history of this Faculty. We all owe him a great debt of gratitude as both colleague and friend." Many other faculty members echoed similar sentiments upon hearing the news.
John Hobbins has published extensively on John Peters Humphrey (1905 – 1995), one of Canada's leading human rights activists and the original drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
His interest in the matter came about when, back in 1988, on his first week on the job as Acting Law Librarian, he discovered the purported first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights lying half forgotten in his new office's filing cabinet. This discovery sparked a passion that led Hobbins to publish parts of Humphrey's diaries, along with several articles about Humphrey and human rights endeavours at the United Nations.
In fact, since finishing his term as Law Librarian to go on sabbatical, Hobbins has resumed his work on researching the history of the Faculty of Law. He plans to resume his scholarly work on Humphrey as well.
One of his articles about John Peters Humphrey can be read online from the archives of the McGill Law Journal. "Dear Rufus ...": A Law Student's Life at McGill in the Roaring Twenties from the Letters of John P Humphrey [.pdf] (1999) 44 McGill L.J. 753.
Photo: John Hobbins and John P. Humphrey in front of Chancellor Day Hall, circa 1990. Photo credit: Jack Goldsmith.