Illinois’ low-cost library program takes on the justice gap
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by the Illinois Answers Project.
Last fall, when an anxious patron rushed into the Addison Public Library asking how to file a court document, Sara Lock felt prepared. She’d grown up depending on the library herself and had just completed training so she could help people facing the court system alone.
“It was just a coincidence that worked out well,” Lock recalled.
Lock sat with the woman for an hour in one of the West suburban library’s computer labs and helped her craft an email to court officials to move the woman’s case forward.
Lock couldn’t remember all the details of the woman’s case, and she and her co-workers say they prefer it that way — hoping a degree of obscurity will keep patrons coming back for free help.
“It’s a space for everyone,” Lock said in an interview.
“We approach these with the same mindset as we do serving all patrons” added her boss, Lesley Cyrier.
Facing at times long commutes and costly proceedings in a byzantine court system, among other hardships, many Illinois residents struggle to make their court dates.
But since August last year, Illinois residents navigating civil court cases, such as housing, family and probate law hearings, have received help logging into remote proceedings, requesting translation services and learning the court’s e-filing system — not from lawyers, but librarians trained through the Court Access Library Center pilot program.
In addition to Addison, suburban libraries participating in the program include the Indian Trails Public Library District in Wheeling, the Wauconda Area Public Library District and the Aurora Public Library.
The need is serious. Researchers report that in Illinois there are just four legal aid lawyers for every 10,000 low-income residents who need one. And most civil litigants without attorneys struggle to access basic court resources.
Long commutes make matters only worse. In many small towns and suburbs, courthouse trips can take more than an hour on public transit, even when it’s available.
Anna Claussen, a policy and outreach coordinator in the secretary of state’s office, which oversees public libraries, told Illinois Answers that what can frustrate the everyday commuter “can be a very catastrophic inconvenience for someone who can’t miss work” and has a court date.
Virtual hearings were meant to ease the burden, but more than 800,000 Illinois residents lack broadband internet or the devices and digital literacy needed to reliably connect.
Last fall, it partnered with the Chicago Bar Foundation and the Illinois Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission (ATJ) to launch the library initiative that puts a $1,000 computer setup in 18 libraries across the state and provides legal training for staff.
Claussen helped identify the pilot locations in nine Illinois counties by mapping where low-income residents with limited transit were most concentrated.
Illinois Answers interviewed staff at half of the pilot locations. Nearly all said they fielded court-related questions long before the program launched — especially after the pandemic moved many hearings online.
According to Roya Samarghandi, the chief advocacy and innovation officer for the Chicago Bar Foundation, equipping those librarians with a baseline knowledge of local court systems was an equally important, and low-cost, tentpole of the program. That’s what helps to get the resources available to the community, she said.
Ryan Johnson, who runs the O’Fallon Public Library in St. Clair County near St. Louis, said patrons had questions about family law, housing court and wills. Now, his staff has training, direct support from legal experts and access to state-provided legal databases.
“That’s a massive tool,” Johnson said.
O’Fallon’s program is one of the most successful in the pilot. It had at least 60 patrons use program resources, Johnson said.
Program organizers studied similar models in Minnesota and Michigan but unlike those states, which invest tens of thousands of dollars installing court kiosks, Illinois opted for a low-cost approach.
Some libraries have since expanded on the initial setup, copying court links and Zoom guides onto other computers, creating online reservation forms for private rooms or posting regular reminders about the service on social media.
Still, the program’s success depends on how much time and energy each library is willing — and able — to invest. The pilot is voluntary. Libraries have to opt in, and staff have to feel comfortable bearing new responsibilities that are outside traditional library work.
Several pilot sites reported low participation and hesitation among staff wary of taking on new responsibilities; many locations didn’t track how often patrons were asking for court help.
Chicago Public Library’s four participating library branches struggled to engage patrons in comparison to their suburban counterparts. According to data from the bar foundation, Sulzer Regional Library in Lincoln Square recorded just nine participants, the most of any Chicago branch. CPL did not respond to requests for comment.
Other potential locations were skipped because they lacked space or staffing to run the program. Often, the libraries without the resources to participate in the pilot were those in areas where patrons could most benefit from the service.
And, on first learning about the program, some local library boards were reluctant to appear to invite people facing serious criminal charges into the traditionally safe spaces of libraries.
“People jump to the worst-case scenario,” Johnson said. “A lot of the stuff we’re helping with is very mundane and nonscandalous.”
Program rules, in fact, prevent library staff from supporting patrons with criminal cases; instead, they refer them to the public defender’s office.
At Addison Public Library, the building is midconstruction for renovation — tarps draped, ladders leaned against walls — but demand hasn’t slowed.
In Addison, reaching the nearest courthouse in Wheaton is challenging without a car. The quickest routes take at least one transfer between buses. On average, it takes 50 minutes by public transit to travel from participating libraries to their nearest courthouse — and many patrons live even farther away.
“We’re the last free place to go,” said Cyrier, head of adult services.
She and Lock — who is bilingual and often assists patrons requesting interpretation services during hearings — said most people coming in for Zoom court sessions aren’t looking for legal advice. They just need a quiet space, reliable internet and someone who won’t make them feel ashamed for asking how to log in.
“People are just afraid of leaving their houses in general,” Cyrier said, noting that recent federal immigration enforcement has scared away Addison’s mostly Hispanic population from everyday activities. “But when they do, they come here.”
The program has not expanded yet, Samarghandi said, because administrators want to be sure they can properly support new locations.
The bar foundation and the Supreme Court commission share the cost of the program. Samarghandi says both organizations are committed to continuing their financial investment if the program scales to other libraries statewide.
What’s of broader concern is ensuring that those libraries have enough money for staff to host the program at all. Chicago’s mayor recently announced a proposal that would cut its public library’s budget by millions of dollars — part of a trend of dwindling library funding in the state.
In the meantime, Lock said library programs will remain a lifeline for community members. “They know they can come here,” she said. “They expect that we can help in some way.”
Illinois’ Low-Cost Library Program Takes on the Justice Gap
Last fall, when an anxious patron rushed into the Addison Public Library asking how to file a court document, Sara Lock felt prepared. She’d grown up depending on the library herself and had just completed training so she could help people facing the court system alone.
“It was just a coincidence that worked out well,” Lock recalled.
Lock sat with the woman for an hour in one of the west suburban library's computer labs and helped her craft an email to court officials to move the woman’s case forward.
Lock couldn’t remember all the details of the woman’s case, and she and her co-workers say they prefer it that way – hoping a degree of obscurity will keep patrons coming back for free help.
“It’s a space for everyone,” Lock said in an interview.
“We approach these with the same mindset as we do serving all patrons" added her boss, Lesley Cyrier.
Facing at times long commutes and costly proceedings in a byzantine court system, among other hardships, many Illinois residents struggle to make their court dates.
But since August last year, Illinois residents navigating civil court cases, such as housing, family and probate law hearings, have received help logging into remote proceedings, requesting translation services and learning the court’s e-filing system — not from lawyers, but librarians trained through the Library Court Access pilot program.
The need is serious. Researchers report that in Illinois there are just four legal aid lawyers for every 10,000 low-income residents who need one. And most civil litigants without attorneys struggle to access basic court resources.
Long commutes make matters only worse. In many small towns and suburbs, courthouse trips can take more than an hour on public transit, even when it’s available.
Anna Claussen, a policy and outreach coordinator in the secretary of state’s office, which oversees public libraries, told Illinois Answers that what can frustrate the everyday commuter “can be a very catastrophic inconvenience for someone who can’t miss work” and has a court date.
Virtual hearings were meant to ease the burden, but more than 800,000 Illinois residents lack broadband internet or the devices and digital literacy needed to reliably connect.
Last fall, it partnered with the Chicago Bar Foundation and the Illinois Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission (ATJ) to launch the library initiative that puts a $1,000 computer setup in 18 libraries across the state and provides legal training for staff.
Claussen helped identify the pilot locations in nine Illinois counties by mapping where low-income residents with limited transit were most concentrated.
Illinois Answers interviewed staff at half of the pilot locations. Nearly all said they fielded court-related questions long before the program launched — especially after the pandemic moved many hearings online.
According to Roya Samarghandi, the chief advocacy and innovation officer for the Chicago Bar Foundation, equipping those librarians with a baseline knowledge of local court systems was an equally important, and low-cost, tentpole of the program. That’s what helps to get the resources available to the community, she said.
Ryan Johnson, who runs the O’Fallon Public Library in St. Clair County near St. Louis, said patrons had questions about family law, housing court and wills. Now, his staff has training, direct support from legal experts and access to state-provided legal databases.
“That’s a massive tool,” Johnson said.
O’Fallon’s program is one of the most successful in the pilot. It had at least 60 patrons use program resources, Johnson said.
Program organizers studied similar models in Minnesota and Michigan but unlike those states, which invest tens of thousands of dollars installing court kiosks, Illinois opted for a low-cost approach.
Some libraries have since expanded on the initial setup, copying court links and Zoom guides onto other computers, creating online reservation forms for private rooms or posting regular reminders about the service on social media.
Still, the program’s success depends on how much time and energy each library is willing — and able — to invest. The pilot is voluntary. Libraries have to opt in, and staff have to feel comfortable bearing new responsibilities that are outside traditional library work.
Several pilot sites reported low participation and hesitation among staff wary of taking on new responsibilities; many locations didn’t track how often patrons were asking for court help.
Chicago Public Library’s four participating library branches struggled to engage patrons in comparison to their suburban counterparts. According to data from the bar foundation, Sulzer Regional Library in Lincoln Square recorded just nine participants, the most of any Chicago branch. CPL did not respond to requests for comment.
Other potential locations were skipped because they lacked space or staffing to run the program. Often, the libraries without the resources to participate in the pilot were those in areas where patrons could most benefit from the service.
And, on first learning about the program, some local library boards were reluctant to appear to invite people facing serious criminal charges into the traditionally safe spaces of libraries.
“People jump to the worst-case scenario,” Johnson said. “A lot of the stuff we're helping with is very mundane and non-scandalous.”
Program rules, in fact, prevent library staff from supporting patrons with criminal cases; instead, they refer them to the public defender’s office.
At Addison Public Library, the building is mid-construction for renovation — tarps draped, ladders leaned against walls — but demand hasn’t slowed.
In Addison, reaching the nearest courthouse in Wheaton is challenging without a car. The quickest routes take at least one transfer between buses. On average, it takes 50 minutes by public transit to travel from participating libraries to their nearest courthouse — and many patrons live even farther away.
“We’re the last free place to go,” said Cyrier, head of adult services.
She and Lock — who is bilingual and often assists patrons requesting interpretation services during hearings — said most people coming in for Zoom court sessions aren’t looking for legal advice. They just need a quiet space, reliable internet and someone who won’t make them feel ashamed for asking how to log in.
“People are just afraid of leaving their houses in general,” Cyrier said, noting that recent federal immigration enforcement has scared away Addison’s mostly Hispanic population from everyday activities. “But when they do, they come here.”
The program has not expanded yet, Samarghandi said, because administrators want to be sure they can properly support new locations.
The bar foundation and the Supreme Court commission share the cost of the program. Samarghandi says both organizations are committed to continuing their financial investment if the program scales to other libraries statewide.
What’s of broader concern is ensuring that those libraries have enough money for staff to host the program at all. Chicago’s mayor recently announced a proposal that would cut its public library’s budget by millions of dollars — part of a trend of dwindling library funding in the state.
In the meantime, Lock said library programs will remain a lifeline for community members. “They know they can come here,” she said. “They expect that we can help in some way.”
This article first appeared on Illinois Answers Project and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
