Newest courthouse library branch in Abbotsford serves the fast-growing Fraser Valley
As a librarian with the Abbotsford Courthouse Library (ACL), Harman Arora has helped hundreds of law students, veteran lawyers, and everyday people access legal information. “There are different questions every single day that we’re resolving, and that’s what I love doing the most,” Arora says.
When people can access legal information, they have a better chance of accessing justice. Courthouse Libraries BC (CLBC) supports this by offering free legal information, training, and reference services to lawyers and the public on substantive law and legal procedures. For someone without legal representation, it can be challenging to find the right resources without help. The team at CLBC helps bridge that gap for members of the public. “It’s like being a detective,” says Tracy McLean, Manager, Information Services.
“There are different questions every single day that we’re resolving , and that’s what I love doing the most.” — Harman Arora
CLBC also provides lawyers access to collections and services that would otherwise cost them tens of thousands of dollars, which is out of reach for many practitioners.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation made a $250,000 grant to help launch the ACL. This special grant supplemented ongoing funding to support CLBC, which operates 30 locations in addition to online services and partnerships with public libraries.
Closing the legal services gap in the Fraser Valley
Abbotsford was a strategic location for the newest CLBC branch. Demand for legal services outpaces supply in the Fraser Valley, one of the fastest-growing regions in BC. Because there is a shortage of lawyers in the Fraser Valley, many lawyers travel from Vancouver to represent clients, while Fraser Valley residents previously had to travel to the Vancouver, New Westminster, Surrey or Chilliwack locations to find legal resources.
Each Courthouse Library collection reflects the needs of the local community. The ACL has a broad mix of resources, focusing on family, criminal and civil issues like contract law and real estate law. CLBC developed the ACL’s collection by surveying Fraser Valley lawyers and the public libraries, including the Clearbrook Public Library next door.
“We didn’t want to stock a full, complete collection right away. We put in the essentials and then we wanted the community to direct how we were building the print collection,” says McLean.
Launching a library during the pandemic
The ACL opened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health restrictions made reaching out to the community a challenge. “The pandemic just made it harder because I couldn’t go out in community and talk to different organizations,” Arora recounts.
CLBC has long worked with public libraries through its Law Matters program. As part of the program, Arora worked with the Clearbrook Public Library’s librarians to find out what legal information was missing from its collection. She trained the librarians on how to support members of the public seeking support with legal issues and refer them to the ACL. She also helped non-profits like Archway Community Services, Justice Access Centres, and Victim Services get legal information to their clients. Arora continues to seek community input on how the ACL might grow its collection in the future.
This article originally appeared in our 2022 Annual Report.
