This has been a great week filled with many firsts: first day, first assignment, and first mentor lunch. But, there has been another first. This week marks the first time I have ever been allowed to eat and drink in a library! That’s right, the Bilzin Sumberg library hosted both a happy hour and a heated, competitive bake-off during their Summer Associate training sessions.

The librarians did an excellent job teaching us how to use the library’s resources. We learned about the library’s layout, how to access various online databases, and what are the best practices for utilizing print and online research tools.

In addition, we learned that chicken fingers are the most preferred library happy hour snack, that the Legal Information Specialist Kelley Darling can tell library jokes, and that Director of Library & Knowledge Management Paul VanderMeer’s fruit tarts will beat out Director of Legal Recruiting & Professional Development Jessica Buchsbaum’s rocky road pie any afternoon (don’t feel bad, Jessica won last year’s bake-off with her world-famous tiramisu).

By providing drink and snacks at the training sessions, the librarians made research all the more fun and certainly gave us an incentive to keep going back!