Did you know that Alberta Law Libraries offers services to the public, not just the legal profession? Each day, staff support Albertans by answering questions about court forms, legal research, processes and more.
Working for Alberta Law Libraries (ALL) is an engaging and rewarding career, but what is a typical day in the life of an ALL employee? The reality is that there is no typical day. Come along for a day as we highlight the vital role played by ALL in enhancing access to justice for Albertans.
About Alberta Law Libraries
ALL’s origins date to 1905 since the creation of the province of Alberta. In Alberta, initially only members of the legal profession could access law libraries. Beginning in 1973, the public could also access services in person and remotely. Since then, the primary mission of ALL is to facilitate access to legal information for all Albertans.
At present, ALL offers a provincial network of fifteen libraries. No matter who we are serving and what role we are filling, we are committed to meeting user needs and trends in our collection, resources, and services.
Over five days in January 2025, we observed and noted interactions during morning, lunch hour, and afternoon shifts at ALL locations.
Morning shift
A typical day starts before dawn as the earliest employees arrive around 7:45 AM. Morning shift is a team effort of balancing cash float, running reports, pulling holds, discharging returned items, sending books to other branches, and filling photocopy paper.
When the Edmonton library staff arrive at the circulation desk at 8:10 AM, three clients are already waiting for the library to open. When the doors open at 8:15 AM, the focus turns to helping clients: printing, photocopying, scanning, giving research instructions, answering procedural questions, processing holds, and accessing forms. After promptly addressing initial requests, the library staff helps a client print a Writ of Enforcement in a new format. Tech issues are common but easily resolved in most cases. ALL is an important service point for court participants, supporting their varying legal needs in a welcoming environment.
By 11:00 AM, Calgary’s reference desk is overwhelmed with complex walk-in research questions. The librarian today is helping a client with an overview of online databases available to update a bibliography. We suggest university library catalogues as well as Library of Congress and World Cat.
Shortly after, a lawyer asks for help tracing certain provisions under Alberta’s Teachers’ Pension Plans Act and Private School Teachers’ Pension Plan Act. The librarian can use a combination of print and electronic resources (CanLII and KP Source Professional) to trace relevant amendments to get a good look at how the statutes evolved over several decades.
E-Ref shift
Numerous email questions arrive each day from our clients via ALL’s ‘Ask-A-Law-Librarian’ service. Clients may need help finding a specific book, conducting in-depth complex research, or requesting a particular document. Lawyers may have urgent Westlaw requests or research instruction session requests. No matter the question, reference library staff are busy offering support.
Afternoon shift
As the day progresses, ALL becomes busier as more clients need help to access forms from the court’s website, a sometimes daunting task.
ALL is unique in that it creates equal opportunities for both the legal community and the public. A client wants to know about our location and parking information. A telephone call is about bill payment for fees and fines. A law student returns a book and is waiting for help to find another textbook. As the circulation staff is helping a client access a library resource, the front desk gets busy with even more clients waiting their turn. A library staff shelving books immediately steps in and helps clients navigate legal resources such as law dictionaries. ALL staff ensure to provide personalized assistance to all clients.
Alberta Law Library locations are also public spaces that encourage social engagement. The library is a frequent meeting place for lawyers, the public and court staff. The library staff play an important role in the social environment too. For example, one public patron in Edmonton stops to converse with our front desk person about self-represented litigants.
How do you compare a day in Edmonton and Calgary law libraries to a day in a branch library? In addition to serving the courthouse staff and the internal clients, branch library staff perform all aspects of library work, from cataloguing, collection development, facilities management to document delivery, e reference and judicial services.
“The library is an essential service,” one client says. At 3:30 PM, the pace of the library quickens with varying requests – five new library card requests, one urgent request for Westlaw, a document delivery request by the Law Society of Alberta, a request to use Medicine Hat library for video conference, and a question about locating the transcript for a case. It is now 3:50 PM, and two library staff members are fulfilling clients’ printing requests so that the clients can file the court documents before 4 PM.
As the clock ticks towards closing time at 4 PM, library staff assure the clients that the library will be open the next day to answer their questions.
Outreach initiatives
Just as connecting people with information are important aspects of daily life at ALL, so are community outreach initiatives and programs. At 2 PM, when the circulation desk is busy with clients, the video committee is planning to introduce a new service of YouTube videos for greater accessibility. Meanwhile, a few library staff are enthusiastically planning programs that encompass diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts.
The Edmonton library is busy with clients on Wednesdays when volunteer lawyers from Pro Bono Law Alberta meet clients in the library. This service provides summary legal assistance to self-represented litigants on a first-come-first-serve basis. This includes helping the members of the public with referrals for legal support, and accessing and completing forms.
Another way that law libraries serve the public is by collaborating with public libraries to provide legal support and promote literacy about legal issues that affect the public. This week, ALL presents a webinar for staff at public libraries called “Do You get Legal Research Questions?”.
Closing time
Alberta Law Libraries is a busy spot! We play a role in access to justice for everyone in Alberta by helping all our clients handle their legal information needs with confidence.
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DISCLAIMER The information in this article was correct at time of publishing. The law may have changed since then. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of LawNow or the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.
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