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.
