“The Little Law Library That Could” Celebrates Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting, Proclamation

PRESS RELEASE:

Just a little over three years ago, the Dane County Legal Resource Center (DCLRC; formerly Dane County Law Library) faced closure and staff layoffs due to a Dane County budget crisis. On Monday April 3 at 2:00 p.m., the “Little Law Library that Could” is celebrating its move into a larger space in the new courthouse with a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony and reception.

DCLRC is a branch of the State Law Library funded through a contractual arrangement with Dane County. Nearly 30,000 people use the DCLRC each year. Librarian Paula Seeger estimates that about 75-80% of DCLRC’s users are members of the public interested in representing themselves in court actions. “Pro se folks are by far our biggest user group, and often our most challenging,” says Seeger. “They have the widest variety of requests and really keep us on our toes.”

DCLRC moved into a new library space on the lower level of the Dane County Courthouse January 13. “People have been able to locate us, and, if anything, I’d say we’re a bit busier now than in our old space,” admits Seeger. “We wanted to wait until we were settled in before having our grand opening.” DCLRC’s grand opening corresponds to National Library Week, April 2-8, and features week long events, classes, and door prizes. Visit the DCLRC website to access a full list of events: http://wsll.state.wi.us/branch/dclrc/servicesevents.html.

Seeger confesses, “There were times we thought we’d never make it to the new library, with budget problem after budget problem. We kept on. We cut where we could, collaborated more, and found creative solutions to our problems. All in all I think we offer more services now than we ever did and do a great job of keeping our users informed of the latest court procedures and laws.” For more information about the Dane County Legal Resource Center, visit their website at: http://wsll.state.wi.us/branch/dclrc/index.html or call 266-6316.

March DCLRC Newsletter Available

The March issue of the Dane Co Legal Resource Center newsletter is now online at: http://wsll.state.wi.us/branch/dclrc/pub/docket/06mar.pdf Enjoy!

New report: Use of libraries grows

The American Library Association has released a study finding "that Americans overwhelmingly are very satisfied with their public libraries, agree more public library funding is needed and believe public libraries will be needed in the future. Two-thirds of adult Americans (roughly 135 million people) visited their public libraries last year." Read the study or summary.

Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System

From the National Criminal Justice Reference Service comes this new resource:
Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System

From the Summary:
"According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) publication, Prisoners in 2004, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics, which obtains yearend and midyear counts of prisoners from departments of corrections in each of the 50 States and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, at yearend 2002, there were 26,300 female prisoners incarcerated in State prison for a violent offense. Violent offenders accounted for 33% of the female prison population under State jurisdiction at yearend 2002 (Prisoners in 2004, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005).

The growth in the female offender population can be seen in each component of corrections. As of June 30, 2004, the number of women under State or Federal jurisdiction was 103,910, a 2.9% increase from June 30, 2003. At the same time, there were an estimated 86,999 female jail inmates, about 12.3% of the jail population. Overall, about 8.6 % of persons incarcerated in prison and jail were women (Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005). "

State Internet Filtering Laws

State Internet Filtering Laws
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/CIP/filterlaws.htm
Includes a handy chart of state laws governing schools and public libraries, along with links to the specific state codes.

From: Neat New Stuff I Found This Week
Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2006.

Default Jdgmt SC/CV Cases Require Extra Form

A friendly reminder from the Clerk of Courts office:
In order to be awarded a default judgment in a small claims or civil case, you need to file an Affidavit of Nonmilitary Service with the Clerk of Courts. The form is available on the Court System's website as Form GF-175.

Cafe in Courthouse Menu

The menu for the Themis Cafe in the Courthouse is now viewable online (in PDF). You can link to it here: http://www.co.dane.wi.us/pdf/themis_menu_printable.pdf

Enjoy new photos!

We have photos of the move and new DCLRC available on our website under "News" at: http://wsll.state.wi.us/branch/dclrc/. Enjoy!

February Newsletters Available

The February issue of the Dane Co Legal Resource Center newsletter is now available online at: http://wsll.state.wi.us/branch/dclrc/pub/docket/06feb.pdf

The February issue of the State Law Library's newsletter is now available online at:
http://wsll.state.wi.us/newsletter/0602.html

Two chances to weigh in on proposed rule changes

Here are two opportunites to address upcoming proposed Supreme Court Rules changes:

05-01 (Jan 27, 2006) Open Administrative Conference re Amendment to Supreme Court Rule 22.001(3) Relating to Cost Assessments in the Lawyer Regulation System - Tuesday, March 7, 2006, 9:30 a.m., Supreme Court Room, State Capitol, Madison.

06-01 (Jan 30, 2006) Public Hearing re Amendment to Supreme Court Rule 72.01 regarding record retention - Tuesday, April 25 2006, 3:30 p.m., Supreme Court Room, State Capitol, Madison.


Full text of Supreme Court Order 06-01, dated Jan 30, 2006, available online.
http://www.wicourts.gov/supreme/sc_hearing_rules.jsp

Source: WI State Law Library, Angela Sanfilippo, Documents Librarian