Public access to legal materials is extremely important because of the number of laws, regulations, and court cases governing our society. In order to function effectively on a day‐to‐day basis and carry out his or her responsibilities toward the legal system, an individual needs an understanding of the law and the legal process. In this article we explore the steps that public librarians must take to establish and utilize a basic legal collection for their communities and offer some insight into the suggested approaches for dealing with legal reference inquiries.
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