Librarians are among the few professionals who are on the front lines helping people who represent themselves in court.

When I decide to do some legal research in a law library, I first think about going to the local courthouse. If the local courthouse doesn’t have a law library (not all of them do because of the expense), I next think about going to the nearest law school (all ABA-accredited law schools have law libraries).

I don’t think I ever once came across a law library that was in a regular public library until I moved to Gainesville, Florida, and stumbled upon a collection housed in the main branch of the Alachua County Library District. I was intrigued, so I went to check it out (so to speak).

The legal collection is impressive. It is not exhaustive, but it certainly is adequate for most people’s legal research needs.

And I thought that, since this was not a typical law library staffed with specially-trained law librarians, LawYou might be able to lend a hand and help the librarians help the patrons, and help the patrons get the most out of the resources and have a better shot at being fully and properly heard in court.

So, I sat down with Fiona Lama, a library specialist with the Alachua County Library District, to find out what she does every day to help people find the information they need to get their day in court. The interview is in the video below.

Based on that interview, we are creating materials that will be useful to the librarians and the library patrons who need to find information concerning their legal issues. We will post updates when those materials are completed and in use.

We sincerely thank Ms. Lama and the Alachua County Library District for their participation in this project. We hope you enjoy the video.