The Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library serves the legal information needs of self-represented litigants, legal professionals, the judiciary, and county and other governmental officials and promotes open and equal access to justice for all. TheHainsworth Law Library’s mission is to provide all patrons access to relevant, current, accurate, and practical legal information in the most appropriate and cost-effective formats possible and to offer educational opportunities designed to enhance patrons’ understanding of legal information and how it is accessed.

The Hainsworth Law Library is open to all persons and serves the community at large. Approximately 90 percent of the people who take advantage of the library’s services are self-represented litigants. Self-represented litigants, or pro se parties, are taking part in the judicial process or handling civil legal matters without the benefit of an attorney. The most common categories of civil legal issues that see citizens representing themselves include family, consumer and finance, housing, disabilities, education, health, and government benefits. In most cases, the litigants lack the necessary skills and tools to adequately represent themselves in court, especially in matters where the opposing party is represented by counsel.

This lack of meaningful access to the justice system creates what is referred to as “the justice gap.” As a public law library, we are uniquely situated to bridge this gap by providing access to relevant and practical legal information to those who need it most. To create a collection that reflects the legal information needs of the community, the Hainsworth Law Library has crafted a collection development policy that focuses on the needs of the self-represented litigants by recommending resources that support public needs but also are authoritative, current, and relevant.

With the justice gap also comes the digital divide, a disparity in access to online resources and the Internet, generally. Additionally, even in cases where individuals have access to the Internet, whether it be through a smartphone or traditional desktop or laptop computers, they may lack the necessary skills to adequately perform searches online or to use technology generally. While online materials are more often preferred and appear to be more easily accessible, libraries should maintain a print collection to ensure that the patrons who fall into the digital divide are not overlooked. In this regard, the Hainsworth Law Library strives to collect legal and self-help resources in print while also providing access to relevant online materials.

In addition to accessibility, another factor to consider when creating a self-help legal collection is the appropriateness of the materials. Such materials need to be appropriate for the educational and skill levels of the library’s patrons yet still maintain their accuracy and authoritativeness. Self-represented litigants are obviously not attorneys and, in most cases, are overwhelmed by the system and its requirements. For this reason, it is important to acquire resources that explain the law and legal concepts in simple, easy-to-understand terms.

Merely providing access to a collection of legal resources is meaningless unless there are materials that can be understood by the average person. Furthermore, maintaining a collection of self-help legal resources can assist law librarians by allowing them to provide legal information to patrons rather than legal advice.

This self-represented litigant resource guide has been created to make certain that the Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library is acquiring materials that respond to the legal information needs of the general public. It is designed to be a companion to the Law Library’s general collection development policy. This guide presents specific categories of resources commonly used in the Law Library and titles of resources that are representative of those categories. The materials listed herein comprise both print and online resources.