After serving as the law librarian at the University of Southern California under Dean Justin Miller for three years, William R. Roalfe joined Miller at Duke Law in 1930, as the university’s first full-time law librarian. Under his direction the library grew from 12,500 volumes in 1930 to over forty thousand in 1932, and became the largest law library in the South. In 1946 the library reached seventy-nine thousand volumes. Roalfe was highly involved in the American Association of Law Libraries. He was President of the Association from 1935 to 1936, an Executive Committee member from 1934-1937 and 1943-1944, and frequently served on other committees in the Association. He wrote several books, and submitted articles to Law Library Journal on a regular basis. His suggestions for the mission and structure of the Association, known as the Roalfe Plan, guided the organization for several decades. Roalfe left Duke in 1946 to become the law librarian at Northwestern.
Roalfe completed an LL.B. in 1922 at the University of Southern California and practiced law for several years, then became the law librarian at his alma mater in 1927. During World War II Roalfe worked as an attorney for the Office of Price Administration. He received an honorary LL.D. degree from Temple University in 1959. Roalfe remained on the faculty at Northwestern, receiving emeritus status in 1965. He died in 1979.
Sources:
Biographical Statement, William R. Roalfe Papers, 1930-1962 [perma.cc/5JK6-HKFZ], American Library Association Archives (last viewed April 20, 2015)
Duke University, School of Law, Bulletin of Duke University School of Law [serial]
Robert F. Durden, The Rebuilding of Duke University's School of Law, 1925-1947 (Part I)[https://perma.cc/K4QM-XH3A], vol. LXVI, no. 3, July 1989 North Carolina History Review 321
Robert F. Durden, The Rebuilding of Duke University's School of Law, 1925-1947 (Part II)[https://perma.cc/V2QP-KHR2], vol. LXVI, no. 4, October 1989 North Carolina History Review 443
Robert F. Durden, The Launching of Duke University, 1924-1949 (1993)
William R. Roalfe, The Duke University Law Library: An Account of Its Development, 35 Law Library Journal 41 (1942)
- Legal Bibliography
- Legal Research and Writing
- Seminar in Practice before Government Agencies
Articles & Essays
- Panel Discussion on Book Selecting, 35 Law Library Journal 334-349 () (No. 5, 1942)
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1941-1942, )
- Report of the Joint Committee on Cooperation Between the American Association of Law Libraries and the Association of American Law Schools, 37th Annual Meeting, 35 Law Library Journal 325-337 () (No. 5, 1942)
- The Duke University Law Library - an Account of Its Development, 35 Law Library Journal 41-55 ()
- Book Review, 66 Library Journal 166 () (reviewing John S. Bradway, A Tentative Bibliography of Material on Legal Aid Work (1940))
- Report of the Joint Committee between the Association of American Law Schools and the American Association of Law Libraries, in Handbook of the Association of American Law Schools and Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting 141-142 ()
- Report of the Joint Committee between the Association of American Law Schools and the American Association of Law Libraries, 9 American Law School Review 997-999 () (No. 9, 1941)
- Relationship Between Work of the Committee on Classification on Pay Plans and Work of the Joint Committee on Cooperation between the Association of American Law Schools and the American Association of Law Libraries, 33 Law Library Journal 259-274 () (No. 5, 1940)
- Remarks as Presiding Officer at the Luncheon Meeting of Law School LIbrary Inspectors and the Joint Committee on Cooperation between the Association of American Law Schools and the American Association of Law Libraries, 33 Law Library Journal 259-274 () (No. 5, 1940)
- Report a Chairman of the American Association of Law Libraries Special Advisory Committee on Education for Law Librarianship for 1939-1940, 33 Law Library Journal 107-109 ()
- Report as Chairman of the Association of American Law Schools Committee to Cooperate with the American Association of Law Libraries for 1939, 9 American Law School Review 633-634 ()
- Report of Special Advisory Committee on Education for Law Librarianship, 33 Law Library Journal 334-338 () (No. 5, 1940)
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1939-1940, )
- Report of the Joint Committee on Cooperation Between the Association of American Law Schools and the American Association of Law Libraries, 33 Law Library Journal 332-334 () (No. 5, 1940)
- Report as Chairman of the Association of American Law Schools Committee to Cooperate with the American Association of Law Libraries for 1939, in Handbook of the Association of American Law Schools 215-217 ()
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1938-1939, )
- Some Suggestions for Improving the Law School Library Service, 32 Law Library Journal 1-15 ()
- The Increasing Need for Bar Libraries in the Smaller Cities, 25 American Bar Association Journal 509-510 ()
- Book Review, 31 Law Library Journal 1 () (reviewing Yale Law Library Staff, Yale Law Library Manual, The Building, The Books and Their Availability for Use (Yale Law Library Publications, 1937))
- Building the Law Library, 24 Duke Alumni Register, Supplement to the School of Law 9 ()
- Development of the American Association of Law Libraries Under the Expansion Plan, 31 Law Library Journal 111-115 ()
- Report of the Committee on the Expansion Plan, 1937-1938, 31 Law Library Journal 216-222 () (No. 5, 1938)
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1937-1938, )
- The Essentials of an Effective Law School Library Service, 31 Law Library Journal 335-352 ()
- The Relation of The Library to Legal Education, 31 Law Library Journal 141-155 ()
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1936-1937, )
- American Lawyers and Their Books, 22 American Bar Association Journal 241-244 ()
- Book Review, 22 American Bar Association Journal 352 () (reviewing Frederick C. Hicks, Yale Law School: The Founders and the Founders' Collection (Yale Law Library Publications, 1935))
- Book Review, 22 American Bar Association Journal () (reviewing Willard O. Waters, Checklist of American Laws, Charters and Constitutions of the 17th and 18th Centuries in the Huntington Library (1936))
- Outline of Plan for Further Expansion of Activities of American Association of Law Libraries, 29 Law Library Journal 4 () (No. 4, 1936)
- Remarks as Presiding Officer at Various Sessions of the 31st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law LIbraries, 29 Law Library Journal 4 () (No. 4, 1936)
- Report as President of the American Association of Law Libraries, 29 Law Library Journal 114 () (No. 4, 1936)
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1935-1936, )
- The Activities and Program of the American Association of Law Libraries, 29 Law Library Journal 7-13 ()
- The Place of Cooperation with Other Groups in the Program of the American Association of Law Libraries, in National Association of State Libraries, Proceedings and Papers ()
- The Status and Qualifications of Law School Librarians, 8 American Law School Review 398-403 ()
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1934-1935, )
- Response to Address of Welcome, 30th Annual Meeting of American Association of Law Libraries, 28 Law Library Journal ()
- Roalfe Plan Endorsed by the Association of American Law Schools, 28 Law Library Journal 3-8 ()
- Some Reasons Why the Association of American Law Schools Should Support the Expansion Program of the American Association of Law Libraries, 28 Law Library Journal 6-8 ()
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1933-1934, )
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1932-1933, )
- Report of the Committee on an Expansion Program, 25 Law Library Journal 177-192 ()
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1931-1932, )
- An Open Letter to the President of the American Association of Law Libraries, 24 Law Library Journal 60-63 ()
- Report of Special Committee of the American Association of Law Libraries Regional Cooperation in the Development of Special Collections, 24 Law Library Journal 95-109 ()
- Report of the Duke University Law Library, 1930-1931, )
