Legal Services Continues Focus on Libraries and Low-Income Americans' Legal Needs

This fall the legal services community will lead two more free webinars to help librarians better understand the legal information needs of low-income and vulnerable Americans; the nonprofit legal aid, court and community groups that serve them; and why public and public law libraries are essential partners in meeting these information needs. The nonprofit Pro Bono Net is producing these webinars in collaboration with the Legal Aid Society of Louisville, Central Minnesota Legal Services and Legal Services State Support (MN), with funding from LSC's Technology Initiative Grants program.

Please click below to register for these free events. For more information or to view the first two webinars in the series, please visit http://www.probono.net/librarywebinars/.

Library Webinar 3: Helping Patrons Find Legal Assistance in their Community: Online Referral Tools
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012
Time: 10am PDT / 11am MTN / noon CDT / 1pm EDT
Registration: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/622304094
This webinar will highlight online resources for people looking for a lawyer, including where to find referral information for nonprofit legal aid programs, lawyer referral services and state bar programs. Panelists will also discuss a national website with legal help for military members and veterans, and a national directory for individuals seeking assistance with immigration issues. In addition, we'll share tips for how to assess whether an online referral resource is reputable, and common scams to watch out for.

These webinars are free to public library and public law library staff, as well as stakeholders from the legal aid, court and access to justice communities. Attendees are welcome to join for the entire series or attend individual webinars on topics of interest. Recordings and presentation materials will be made available online afterwards.  

Library Webinar 4: Developing Legal Aid-Library Collaborations: Models and Replication Resources
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2012
Time: 10am PDT / 11am MTN / noon CDT / 1pm EDT
Registration: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/236132246

The final webinar in the series will highlight innovative, technology-enabled collaborations between legal aid programs and public and public law libraries in their communities to connect people with legal information. Panelists from legal aid programs and libraries in several states will discuss why and how they forged these partnerships and how they work. We will also provide nuts and bolts resources to replicate these and similar partnerships in other communities, and potential funding opportunities to seed them. We will also discuss opportunities for library involvement in project advisory groups and state commissions.