Article Abstract #5

Thomas, Marsha C. Collaborating with Public Librarians: Good for the Public, Good for the Profession and Good for You. 20(3) Legal Reference Services Quarterly 35 (2001)

Law librarians don’t often get the chance to interact with other types of librarians. In this article, Thomas advocates changing this pattern and offers two main reasons for this. First, if the public library patron is satisfied with the legal information they receive, they have a better feeling for both the legal and the library professions. Second, if patrons feel comfortable receiving legal information at the public libraries, they will not be as inclined to visit the law libraries and thus allow the law librarians to concentrate on their primary clientele of law professors and students.

Thomas offers some ways to collaborate with public librarians. The first idea is to make public librarians aware of the resources available so that they feel comfortable using them. Included in this idea are, for example, the suggestions of offering to analyze the public library collection and make purchasing suggestions and making presentations to the professional organizations. Thomas also suggests educating public librarians on how to deconstruct a legal reference question and know the limits of librarianship.