to benefit the community.As part of this expansion, the Mariposa Library Branch now has access to Westlaw, a legal database from Reuters that provides a comprehensive collection of primary and secondary law. “We are excited to announce that Westlaw has been added as an offering at the main branch of the library,” said County Librarian Matt Johnson. He thanked the Law Library Trustees, comprised of attorneys, judges, County Counsel personnel, and the Mariposa County Librarian. “This expansion of our local law resources has the potential to positively impact so many in our community.”
Anita Starchman Bryant, Mariposa County Superior Court Judge and County Librarian Matt Johnson
The Mariposa Library has set up a dedicated computer to serve as the legal research terminal. Patrons are welcome to use the service at no cost during normal library operating hours. The program allows users to email, download, or print materials for their own use.
The Westlaw software, which holds several legal materials, is meant to supplement the Nolo books available to the community. These books are do-it-yourself-style legal guidebooks designed to help people handle simpler legal matters including making wills, writing business partnership contracts, renter rights, copyright, and bankruptcy. Funding from the Law Library Trustees also supported getting the latest copies of these Nolo books to the library.
“We want to make sure we have the latest legal guidance for our patrons, as having outdated or wrong information can obviously be quite damaging,” Johnson said.
The boost to the County’s Law Library provides a variety of benefits to the community. The Nolo books and Westlaw software are two no-cost tools individuals can use to help understand laws and determine if they want to pursue a matter. These tools are known to be up-to-date and can be trusted versus individual research, which may include outdated materials. While the current set-up is focused on community members, Johnson also shared that attorneys are welcome to use the software themselves for reference and/or research, noting the convenient location across the parking lot from the historic Mariposa County Courthouse.
“We are happy to be able to support this kind of offering for our community,” shared Walter Wall, Mariposa County District Attorney and member of the Law Library Trustees. “We appreciate Matt’s work to manage the books and software and hope to see our community using these tools as needed.”
Source: Mariposa County
