It was August, 2000, when Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan opened the doors of its multi-million dollar branch campus. The Steelcase Library with its automated retrieval system and a Reading/Reference room with medieval stained glass windows, high beamed ceilings, wood paneling, and carpeting befitting a coronation, became a showpiece for the community. Factor in the donation of the law library collection from the Grand Rapids Bar Association and word spread via visitors that we were the Taj Mahal of legal resources and knowledge.
The Grand Rapids Public Library had moved to a warehouse facility some distance from the downtown area as a two year temporary move until renovations on the main library were completed. The uniqueness of the campus and the inconvenience of the public library’s relocation resulted in a wave of pro se patrons seeking our services.
Nothing prepared us for the questions and personalities we encountered! In retrospect, it was fun and a great reality check. We were clear about our policy: “We are not lawyers. We cannot do legal research. We can show you sources. We cannot give opinions.”
Inevitably, there was the “I know you aren’t a lawyer and can’t give us an opinion, but what do you think about this ….?” “I don’t know the first thing about research. I never use a library. I just need you to make me smarter than my lawyer and I only have three days to do it in.” “I already have a lawyer so I don’t need your help. I’m suing him, I just need you to tell me how to sue him.” And then there was the patron who came in, cigarette in hand, eight inch heels, with the scary eyes of the Wicked Witch of the West who blithely said, “Hey you, I want one of them there books that tells all the divorce settlements in the world. I wanna know how much they got so I can take my ole man to the cleaners.” And then, there was the patron who came in, banged on the desk, and said, “do you know anything about multiple personalities?” I have to admit that one was a show stopper! Before I could inquire further, he looked at me and said, “I’m taking my kids to a hypnotist to get the multiple personalities they caught from their mother sneezed out of them”. Jokingly, I said, “you don’t mean like they caught it like a cold” and he said, “You betcha! They caught it being in the same room. You’re a pretty smart librarian!”
My favorite character was the chap who came in once a week, same day, same time to relentlessly pursue his theory that he was a citizen of the “Republic of the World” and not a citizen of the United States. He never registered his children for Social Security numbers and now he wanted assistance from the government who, in turn, wanted to know social security numbers on the applications. Unfortunately, I could find nothing to affirm that he did not have to comply with the laws of the United States and the state laws! The “postcard from the edge” was delivered when he politely informed me that he was never coming back to the library because he had decided that the librarians were all state employees and therefore part of the “Establishment!”
Trying to get the point across that we should not be privy to personal or potential legal information on their part never seemed to hit home. The law librarian as social worker and the law librarian as attorney seemed to be one and the same in many of the patron’s mind’s eye.
Our collection is geared toward the practitioner and the potential law school student. It was definitely intimidating to the average user. But, to the pro se patrons, the librarians were the Wizards who could sprinkle magic dust on law books and somehow find something they could understand!
When the public library re-opened downtown, the majority of pro se users returned to their public library roots. Many of us learned a lot from the experience. We learned how difficult it is to convey the fine line between legal reference and legal research. We learned that some of these patrons were, indeed, a reality check – how often we take our education and ability to find knowledge, search for answers, understand contexts, be able to read and analyze – for granted. We learned that academia can indeed be an ivory tower where the realities and conditions of the common man can often be forgotten.
More important, we learned that having a sense of humor or the ability to see humor in the reference interviews and assisting the pro se patrons in their quest was the key to a successful day. As a matter of fact, when answering the same student assignment questions all day long, we often missed that other slice of life!