Free, online and in your public library: delivering legal information to the community

Abstract

Public libraries in NSW, Australia have been successfully delivering legal information services to their communities for over 25 years, in partnership with the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC) in the State Library of NSW in Sydney. This unique service aims to empower individuals and communities to understand their legal rights and make informed decisions.

This paper outlines the development and key elements of the LIAC service including a central coordinating body, standard collections of high quality plain language legal information in public libraries, training, and evaluation and feedback. The challenges faced in providing legal information to the community are discussed.

Over the years the LIAC service has evolved to also provide access to legal information online but the elements that have sustained the service including the LIAC vision and values, the five-step legal information framework, and the tiered service structure have remained constant.