Date/Time
3/13/2025
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Eastern
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Eastern
Event Registration
Competency
Laws and Reference
Event Description
Part One: Access to Justice and the Reference Interview
Access to justice is, general speaking, the ability of people to seek and obtain fair, accessible, and equitable assistance in reaching an outcome to their situation under the law. Public libraries are on the frontline for access to information, and therefore are on the frontline for access to justice.
A reference interaction encompasses more than the reference interview, the back-and-forth to clarify and hone. There is an awareness and a skillset employed throughout that enhance the actual interview.
Managing a legal reference interaction successfully is often the result of time, exposure, experience, and self-education. The first three are not readily accomplished when working in a general setting. The fourth, self-education, is the motivation behind this webinar.
A problem or question does not always present itself as an obvious legal issue. Sometimes a patron is focused on the specifics of their particular situation and is missing the broader view. Sometimes, they are just not aware that their problem has a solution under the law.
Through self-education, staff can become familiar with the methods, restrictions, processes, and language of law-related topics, and serve their patrons more confidently and appropriately.
Part Two: Legal Reference in a Small, Rural Public Library in Louisiana​
For the last fifteen years, Luis Interiano has been the Reference Librarian at the West Baton Rouge Library in Port Allen, Louisiana. He answers legal reference questions from the general public on a small range of topics that are typical of those encountered by public library patrons, mostly as requests for legal forms that he and his coworkers access through the WBR Library's subscription to the Gale Legal Forms database which has a specific set of forms used in Louisiana courts. These topics include requests for bills of sale for automobiles, boats, and motorcycles; living wills; affidavits for various legal proceedings; power of attorney; and residential lease agreements. Sometimes these requests from the public include complex topics like child custody, estate successions, and divorce, plus federal government matters like immigration, passports and visas from foreign countries. He plans to include anonymized situations that illustrate the legal reference experience.
Learning Objectives:
Catherine McGuire is the Deputy Director of the Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library in Annapolis. Since joining the staff in 2003, she also has served as Head of Reference and Outreach and as Outreach Services Librarian. Prior to joining the State Law Library, Ms. McGuire worked as legislative librarian and as assistant librarian for a law firm library in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. from Duke University and her M.S.L.S. from the Catholic University of America. Ms. McGuire currently serves on the Curriculum Advisory Committee of the University of Maryland School of Information. She recently served as Chair of the Legal Information Services to the Public - Special Interest Section (LISP-SIS) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), as a member of the AALL Special Committee on Advancing Access to Justice, and as Vice-Chair of the Conference of Maryland Court Law Library Directors. She has served as Adjunct Faculty for the Legal Studies Program at the Anne Arundel Community College. Ms. McGuire was awarded the 2023 William L. Marbury Outstanding Advocate Award by the Maryland Legal Services Corporation.
Luis Interiano’s public library experience stretches over twenty-five years in various positions but always in public libraries. He received his Master's in Library and Information Science in 2009 from the Louisiana State University School of LIS, now the School of Information Studies under the College of Human Sciences and Education. In 2024, he received the award of Librarian of the Year for the state of Louisiana from the Louisiana Library Association, and for the last three years he has served as editor of LLA's professional journal, Louisiana Libraries (started 1937), published in digital format at llaonline.org . In 1986, he received his BA in English Literature from the University of New Orleans. He is a native Spanish speaker born in Honduras in 1968; emigrated to New Orleans at age six; became a proud US Citizen along with his family in 1985; and is now a home-owner in Port Allen (pop. 3,000), capital city of West Baton Rouge Parish with a current census population of approximately 27,000.
Access to justice is, general speaking, the ability of people to seek and obtain fair, accessible, and equitable assistance in reaching an outcome to their situation under the law. Public libraries are on the frontline for access to information, and therefore are on the frontline for access to justice.
A reference interaction encompasses more than the reference interview, the back-and-forth to clarify and hone. There is an awareness and a skillset employed throughout that enhance the actual interview.
Managing a legal reference interaction successfully is often the result of time, exposure, experience, and self-education. The first three are not readily accomplished when working in a general setting. The fourth, self-education, is the motivation behind this webinar.
A problem or question does not always present itself as an obvious legal issue. Sometimes a patron is focused on the specifics of their particular situation and is missing the broader view. Sometimes, they are just not aware that their problem has a solution under the law.
Through self-education, staff can become familiar with the methods, restrictions, processes, and language of law-related topics, and serve their patrons more confidently and appropriately.
Part Two: Legal Reference in a Small, Rural Public Library in Louisiana​
For the last fifteen years, Luis Interiano has been the Reference Librarian at the West Baton Rouge Library in Port Allen, Louisiana. He answers legal reference questions from the general public on a small range of topics that are typical of those encountered by public library patrons, mostly as requests for legal forms that he and his coworkers access through the WBR Library's subscription to the Gale Legal Forms database which has a specific set of forms used in Louisiana courts. These topics include requests for bills of sale for automobiles, boats, and motorcycles; living wills; affidavits for various legal proceedings; power of attorney; and residential lease agreements. Sometimes these requests from the public include complex topics like child custody, estate successions, and divorce, plus federal government matters like immigration, passports and visas from foreign countries. He plans to include anonymized situations that illustrate the legal reference experience.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe access to justice and why it matters for public libraries
- Demonstrate best practices for managing a reference question about law
- Assess referral choices and select appropriate options
- Provide patrons with immediate assistance in the form of blank PDF forms that they can type up on our computers or printed blanks that they can take home to fill out. A secondary tier of legal reference is connecting our patrons with legal aid societies operating in our area and with the contact information of pro-bono attorneys assigned by the city- and state- bar associations.
- Remind librarians that we walk a very fine line in offering legal information to our patrons but always stating our disclaimers that we are not providing legal advice and that patrons should check the information we provide with their own attorney.
- Estimate the impact that librarians have on the public or for special clients in providing legal, medical, scientific, or other technical (non-entertainment) information.
Catherine McGuire is the Deputy Director of the Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library in Annapolis. Since joining the staff in 2003, she also has served as Head of Reference and Outreach and as Outreach Services Librarian. Prior to joining the State Law Library, Ms. McGuire worked as legislative librarian and as assistant librarian for a law firm library in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. from Duke University and her M.S.L.S. from the Catholic University of America. Ms. McGuire currently serves on the Curriculum Advisory Committee of the University of Maryland School of Information. She recently served as Chair of the Legal Information Services to the Public - Special Interest Section (LISP-SIS) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), as a member of the AALL Special Committee on Advancing Access to Justice, and as Vice-Chair of the Conference of Maryland Court Law Library Directors. She has served as Adjunct Faculty for the Legal Studies Program at the Anne Arundel Community College. Ms. McGuire was awarded the 2023 William L. Marbury Outstanding Advocate Award by the Maryland Legal Services Corporation.Luis Interiano’s public library experience stretches over twenty-five years in various positions but always in public libraries. He received his Master's in Library and Information Science in 2009 from the Louisiana State University School of LIS, now the School of Information Studies under the College of Human Sciences and Education. In 2024, he received the award of Librarian of the Year for the state of Louisiana from the Louisiana Library Association, and for the last three years he has served as editor of LLA's professional journal, Louisiana Libraries (started 1937), published in digital format at llaonline.org . In 1986, he received his BA in English Literature from the University of New Orleans. He is a native Spanish speaker born in Honduras in 1968; emigrated to New Orleans at age six; became a proud US Citizen along with his family in 1985; and is now a home-owner in Port Allen (pop. 3,000), capital city of West Baton Rouge Parish with a current census population of approximately 27,000.Location
Setting: Live Virtual
Online via Zoom
UNITED STATES
Online via Zoom
UNITED STATES
Contact Person
Details
Who should attend: Anyone wanting to learn about Legal Reference Services
Competencies: Laws and Reference
Non-Member Cost: $40
NEO-RLS Bronze Member Cost: $24
NEO-RLS Silver Member Cost: FREE
NEO-RLS Gold Member Cost: FREE
NEO-RLS Individual Member Cost: $20
Can't attend on the date or time listed? Sign up anyway! This webinar includes archive access for later viewing at your convenience.
It’s never too late to save your library money. NEO-RLS Memberships are pro-rated! Call us today to join.
Competencies: Laws and Reference
Non-Member Cost: $40
NEO-RLS Bronze Member Cost: $24
NEO-RLS Silver Member Cost: FREE
NEO-RLS Gold Member Cost: FREE
NEO-RLS Individual Member Cost: $20
Can't attend on the date or time listed? Sign up anyway! This webinar includes archive access for later viewing at your convenience.
It’s never too late to save your library money. NEO-RLS Memberships are pro-rated! Call us today to join.
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