Name and title: John Adkins, Director of Libraries for the San Diego Law Library
Undergraduate and law school: AB, MLIS, JD from UC Berkeley
Years in practice: Five years as a plaintiff’s antitrust litigator; 30 in law librarianship, 11 of those with the County Law Library.
Why do you serve?
Service is just a natural part of life, starting with taking out the trash, washing the dishes, and mowing the lawn for your parents. It grows from that satisfaction of helping the people you love the most and goes on from there.
What/Who inspires you to serve?
There are too many to name.
What advice would you give others to inspire them to serve?
Think about making the world a little better by your efforts. Once we leave the earth, the only thing that we leave are the results of our good deeds and peoples’ memories of us.
Please list three noteworthy people (living or dead) you’d want to have dinner with and why.
Jacques Cousteau, because I would love to learn more about the sea; Oscar Wilde because of his wit, storytelling and naughty sense of humor; and Karl Marx so we can evaluate his theories after 200 years. Of course it would be at a really good restaurant like The French Laundry!
What is one item on your bucket list?
To view the aurora borealis unobstructed from a campsite in the Norwegian alps.
Favorite place on earth?
A spot on the Almalfi coast of Italy with a stone bench and a large bronze of Hermes. From there, you look out onto the sea through a fringe of pine trees and the view is vast and endless, reminding you of why ancient civilizations worshipped the gods of the sun the sea.
Favorite place in San Diego?
It is always being home, wherever that may be, with my pets and things I love. Whenever I travel — even to wonderful and far-off places — I come back truly believing San Diego is the best place in the world. (I think most people think this way about their hometowns, but unscientific studies have shown that more people consider San Diego in this than any other place in the United States. See U.S. Snooze & World Report 156:4 (1999).
Cherished advice that you have received from a loved-one, mentor or colleague?
Be yourself.
If you could magically change one thing about the world, what would it be?
For everyone on the planet to all at once realize and act upon this single truth: that the greatest thing in the world is to love others — and to be loved in return. That really is the secret to a happy life.
How can others make giving back part of their daily lives?
You can start by smiling at others, opening doors for strangers — just connecting in little ways with your fellow humans. You have to care about others and want to learn from them. You have to see our commonality and appreciate our differences. I think you have to be somewhat of a humanitarian to really enjoy public service. (See Magic Changes, above.)
In what ways does serving the wider community benefit the legal profession?
The Law Library is a public institution serving and learning from community members all the time. Our free access to the law and legal resources transforms lives. Imagine how alone and alienated laypeople are by the complexities of our legal system. The Law Library is a little bit of a juris nirvana experience for people with legal issues who need to represent themselves in court. Not only does our work transform the lives of the people we serve, but we also change their future for the better. The practice of public law librarianship is an awesome calling and I am so proud to be part of it.
The SDCBA Law Day theme this year is “Advancing the Rule of Law Now.” What does this theme mean to you in your work and in your daily life?
This theme is one of the pillars of law libraries everywhere. With every interaction, class, and training session, we are connecting people to the justice system. Many people can find access to justice only through our help, bringing new legal issues and diverse litigants into the legal system. This in itself advances the law as society changes. We help make that happen.
As a recipient of a 2020 Service Award, who would you like to thank?
I really owe everything to my parents and extended family for allowing me to be free to find myself. They embraced me and loved me unconditionally, giving me the confidence to accomplish just about everything I have ever set my sights on. Early memories of their example of character are priceless: with my mother, going door to door collecting for the March of Dimes; “helping” my daddy mow, rake leaves, and pull weeds at the homes of elderly people he knew; and with my grandmother, visiting the sick and disabled and bringing them groceries and other necessities. With those kinds of examples, how could I turn out to be anyone else but who I am today?