2006-2007 Kleps Award Recipient
Regional Court and Library Partnership
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ABOUT
The courts in the four participating counties
recognized several years ago that the steps they
had taken to improve access to self-help services
were still not enough. The need of self-represented litigants far outstripped the counties’ capacity to serve.
In Santa Clara County alone, in one year, some 10,000 people were turned away because the courtsponsored
Self-Service Center and Family Law Facilitator’s Office lacked the resources to help them. Because
they operate out of court locations and may have limited hours of operation, the court-sponsored centers
also present barriers for segments of the population who need legal help but who live in far corners of
the county and have fewer transportation options.
Studies and planning discussions by the courts led to the conclusion that the solution lay in reaching out
to the community and involving public libraries. Court administrators and self-help service representatives
helped conceive the project. Library representatives then were invited to refine the details, with the
Peninsula Library System acting as lead representative and coordinator during the training phase.
The partnership groups collaborated to design a program that would
- Help public librarians to better understand the court system
- Teach librarians about available legal self-help services on the Internet
- Develop a court-library partnership that will continue beyond the self-help project
- Extend community outreach and disseminate self-help services to a wider population
- Strengthen public trust and confidence in and understanding of the courts
Having sought and been awarded a development and implementation grant from the Administrative
Office of the Courts, the court-library partnership succeeded in training librarians throughout the
four counties. Training team members included managing attorneys from court self-help programs
and representatives from the AOC, the Superior Court of San Mateo County, and Public Interest
Clearinghouse.
The training, held whenever possible in library computer labs, included interactive demonstrations to
familiarize librarians with existing legal and related Web sites, such as the AOC’s Online Self-Help Center
(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp) and San Mateo’s www.ezlegalfile.org.
The project also created a Web page for librarians, www.systemref.org/law.htm, which pulled together
essential legal sites from many sources. That Web page now features links to the court-sponsored
self-help centers. Two months after the training,
the participating librarians completed a follow-up
evaluation to report on their experience with the
resources.
Librarians report that they are better able to help
patrons find legal information and resources,
and librarians from other parts of the state have
inquired about replicating the program. Expansion
plans for the project include a new self-help center
in Watsonville, to be located downtown with
the Watsonville public library and the county law
library.
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