Roy M. Mersky, Dead at 82

Professor Roy M. Mersky died yesterday from complications of a recent fall. A member of the University of Texas-Austin School of Law faculty and the director of its law library since 1965, Mersky held the Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law. He was also a professor in the University's graduate School of Information.

Professor Mersky received his B.S. in 1948, J.D. in 1952, and Master's degree in Library Science in 1953 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was a member of the Bars of New York, Texas and Wisconsin. He served in the US Army during World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star.

Mersky's first law library position was at the University of Wisconsin Law Library, working as U.S. Government Documents Cataloger from May 1951 to June 1952. He served as Director of the Washington State Law Library, 1959–1963, and Professor of Law and Law Librarian at University of Colorado, 1963–1965, before his Texas appointment.

Mersky's many accreditation visits and law library consultancies are the stuff of legends as was his mentoring of Texas's professional library staff, many of whom became law library directors around the country. He was named a “Mover and Shaker 2003,” by the Library Journal, as one among the more than 50 of the most innovative librarians working today in libraries across the U.S. and Canada. Other honors include being inducted as a Life Member of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation in 2002, receiving AALL's 2005 Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award in 2005, AALL's Presidential Certificate of Merit in 2006, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies Alumni Association’s Centennial Celebration Alumnus of the Year Award in 2006.

2008 marks the 50th anniversary of his first professional publication: Bibliographic Organization in Law Libraries: A Panel, 51 Law Library Journal 338 (1958). Of course, everyone knows his Fundamentals of Legal Research, first published in 1975 (with J. Myron Jacobstein), Spirit of Librarianship (with Richard Leiter), and his many works on Supreme Court history. He was working on Unknown Justices with William Bader at the time of his death.

During his 40-plus years, Professor Mersky developed the University of Texas law library into one of the preeminent research facilities in the nation, a legacy few achieve.

Like many others, I thought Roy would outlast all of us. Our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Roy M. Mersky today. [JH]   

See also Brian Leiter's (Texas) post.

Updates: In Memoriam: Roy M. Mersky (University of Texas-Austin School of Law). A funeral service for Professor Mersky’s family and close friends will be held at 2:30 pm on Sunday, May 11, at the Weed-Corley Fish Funeral Home, followed by a reception at the Law School.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in Roy’s memory may be sent to:

The Roy M. Mersky Memorial Fund
University of Texas Law School Foundation
727 East Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX 78705

Online Comments Page hosted by the School of Law: Roy Mersky Remembered: Friends and Colleagues Reflect

Memorial Service. The Law School would host a memorial service early in September, after classes have resumed.

See also: AALL Statement, and Austin Statesman article with the newspaper's guest book.