Public Library Initiative

LSC and its partner, OCLC, have designed and delivered a free national online training program on civil legal information and services for public library staff.

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Why did we undertake this initiative?

Public libraries are an underutilized resource for low-income individuals seeking legal information for civil legal problems like divorce, child custody, and eviction. With training and support, however, public librarians could help millions of Americans who are turned away from LSC-funded legal aid organizations due to lack of resources.

The Process

In order to assist libraries in this endeavor, LSC and its partner, OCLC, have designed and delivered a free national online training program on civil legal information and services for public library staff, especially those in reference, adult services, or outreach positions. The project team is also building awareness of the topic and sharing project resources and learning broadly with the public library field. After the initial live training program, OCLC revised the course content to better support self-paced learning, with the assistance of subject matter experts. At the completion of the project, the course materials, self-paced learning content, and all other relevant project resources will be published on OCLC’s website, where they will continue to be available for free.

Sign Up or Learn More

See OCLC’s official page of the training initiative to sign up or learn more.

Browse the Course Content

Read the overview and learning objectives for each of the self-paced courses.

Advisory Board

Name

Affiliation

Katherine Alteneder

Self-Represented Litigation Network

Patience Frederikson

Alaska State Library

Nan Heald

Pine Tree Legal Services

Chris LeBeau

Reference and User Services Association (Former President)

Janine Liebert

LA Law Library

Mary Minow

LibraryLaw Blog

Amy Petkovsek

Maryland Legal Aid

Glenn Rawdon

LSC

Jane Ribadeneyra

LSC

Felton Thomas

Cleveland Public Library

Laura Tuggle

Southeast Louisiana Legal Services