What is a library & justice partnership and how to start one?
A library & justice partnership (whether informal or more structured) is a collaboration between library service providers and legal service or information providers. The goal is to make legal supports, information, and services more accessible to the public, particularly those who experience systemic inequities and barriers to accessing justice.
Ways that libraries can collaborate with local legal supports
There are many different ways your library can partner with local legal supports to improve access to legal services, help build legal literacy, and provide accurate and up-to-date legal information for your service users. These supports may include community legal clinics, specialty legal clinics, Legal Aid Ontario, or social service organizations such as settlement or housing. Some of these ways include:
Legal information resources
- Order and display free print materials from CLEO: Your library can order free print resources from CLEO on many different legal topics. Make sure your existing CLEO print materials are up to date by checking our discard list.
- Partner with CLEO to embed and share Steps to Justice and Guided Pathways content on your website: Embed & Share - Steps to Justice
- Contact your local community legal clinic, Legal Aid Ontario, relevant specialty clinics and social service organizations to learn about information, resources, and low-cost services you can share with your service users
- Some community legal clinics will answer questions directly from service providers such as library workers. Contact your local community legal clinic to find out if they offer this service.
Legal services
Community legal clinics across Ontario have partnered with their local libraries to offer a range of legal services. These have included:
- Pop-up legal clinics at libraries to offer free legal services on a drop-in basis
- For example, the Community Legal Clinic of York Region partnered with Georgina Public Library to offer a series of drop-in clinics
- Satellite services regularly offered at a space in the library
- For example, Niagara Falls Public Library and Niagara Community Legal Clinic partnered to offer satellite services in the library.
- Consultations with a lawyer at the library or virtually by appointment
- For example, Brampton Public Library partnered with the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario to offer free virtual one-on-one legal consultations
- Special clinics to help people complete legal forms or processes
- For example, Thunder Bay Public Library partnered with Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic and Lakehead University Student Legal Clinic to offer a drop-in ID clinic to help people apply for a birth certificate
Contact your local community legal clinic to discuss possible opportunities for legal service provision at your library.
Legal literacy
- Host a guest speaker to discuss a particular area of the law
- For example, Clarington Public Library partnered with Durham Community Legal Services to host a presentation on Wills and Estate Planning for “Make a Will Month”
- Launch a multi-event speaker series on a particular legal topic or for a particular audience
- For example, Hamilton Public Library partnered with Hamilton Community Legal Services to offer an online Legal Information for Newcomers series, covering topics such as Employment Law, Tenant and Landlord Laws, and Income Supports
- Request a Public Legal Education (PLE) workshop from your local community clinic or a specialty clinic. Most clinics offer presentations or workshops to community members on the areas of law that they cover.
- For example, the Community Legal Clinic of Simcoe, Haliburton, Kawartha Lakes delivered a workshop on the Ontario Human Rights Code for the Haliburton County Public Library Dysart branch
- Invite CLEO to deliver a workshop for library staff on Building Skills to Respond to Law-Related Questions
Contact your local community legal clinic or a specialty clinic to discuss possible opportunities for legal literacy events and programs.
Events/Programs
- Ongoing community programs that engage service users and your local legal clinic
- For example, Brantford Public Library collaborated with the Community Legal Clinic of Brant, Haldimand, and Norfolk to host an online social justice book club
- Events that bring members of the community together to address pressing issues
- For example, Waterloo Region Community Legal Services partnered with the Kitchener Public Library to host their Poverty Reduction Fall Forum
- Community celebrations hosted in collaboration with your local community legal clinic
- For example, Hamilton Public Library partnered with Hamilton Community Legal Services to host an event Celebrating Black Resistance during Black History Month
- Information and outreach events
- For example, Pickering Public Library partnered with Durham Community Legal Services (DCLS) to host an outreach table at the library for people to learn about the services offered by DCLS
Examples of formal library & justice partnerships – Canada
- Community Advocacy and Legal Centre (CALC): Learn more about the work that CALC has done in collaboration with public libraries in eastern Ontario
- National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP): The NSRLP teamed up with public libraries in southwestern Ontario for their “Family Law at the Library Project,” offering resources, educational programming and support to people representing themselves in family law cases.
- LawMatters BC: Courthouse Libraries BC created the LawMatters program as an outreach initiative for public libraries. The program helps make it easier for the public to access legal information as well as legal reference and referral services.
- LawMatters also provides resources, information, and training for public library staff members
- Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information Project (SALI): The SALI project is a collaboration across sectors to help information providers and community organizations connect members of the public with information about the law, legal advice or assistance, and community supports.
Examples of formal library & justice partnerships – International
United States
- Cleveland Public Library – The library has partnered with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and other local supports to offer three legal assistance programs:
- The Neighborhood Housing Court Kiosk program enables Clevelanders to appear before Housing Court without having to travel downtown.
- The Legal Aid Society offers free drop-in legal advice clinics.
- LegalWorks is a not-for-profit organization that offers legal consultations to eligible youth and adults living on a low income through three library branches.
- Saint Paul Public Library (SPPL) – Partnering with the Minnesota Law Library, the two organizations launched the Legal Reference at the Public Library program. This program has a law librarian visit one of the SPPL branches twice a month to meet with service users, answer questions, and direct them to the information they need.
- Spokane Public Library and King County Library System in Washington both offer Community Court services in partnership with their local courts and municipalities. These courts see cases of defendants facing charges for low-level criminal offenses and help find community-oriented solutions. They also offer community resource centres, where the public can access information and services from local social service providers.
- Legal Services Commission and OCLC, a US-based global library cooperative, design and deliver free national online training programs on civil legal information and services for public library staff. The Access to Civil Legal Justice Project is hosted on WebJunction, the OCLC’s online learning platform for libraries.
- As part of the project, they also developed Eviction Resources for Libraries, including webinar recordings, key resources, and how to find local information.
- Califa, a nonprofit consortium of libraries in California, has created an online course for library workers on providing legal reference help. The course is hosted through their Infopeople continuing education platform.
Australia
- The State Library of New South Wales is a reference and research library that has created a website to help people Find Legal Answers. The website includes information about many different areas of law, case law, and how to find help.
- Victoria Legal Aid – Public Law Library is one of the only specialist law libraries in Australia open to all members of the public. Experienced librarians can help patrons locate legislation, case law, and other legal material from print and electronic resources.
Research on Library & Justice sector partnerships
- Forging Strong Connections: The vital role of BC's legal intermediaries (2022): This report shares findings from a series of regional networking meetings with legal intermediaries hosted in partnership by PovNet, Legal Aid BC, and Courthouse Libraries BC.
- Family Law at the Library: Mobilizing the Potential of Public Libraries to Serve Self-Represented Litigants (2021): The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) prepared this report to summarize their work partnering with public libraries in Southwestern Ontario to provide support, workspace, resources, and educational programming for family self-represented litigants. The project also included training for library staff.
- Preliminary Report of LawMatters Research: The Role of Rural Public Libraries in providing PLEI Services (2019): From Courthouse Libraries BC, this report examines LawMatters program evaluations, survey data, and an environmental scan to explore the role played by rural public libraries in British Columbia in providing public legal information.
- The report also includes a summary on Public Legal Information in BC’s Rural and Remote Community Libraries: Recommendations for LawMatters
- Librarians & Access to Justice Outreach: Project Report & Resources (2015): This report from the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre (CALC) details efforts made over five years to create new local partnerships with librarians in Eastern Ontario. It includes how the approach was developed and ten lessons learned, as well as next steps.