Legal Information Community Forum in Nanaimo

On May 27th, Customer Services Librarian Valerie Grace of the Nanaimo Harbourfront Branch of Vancouver Island Regional Library hosted a very successful forum of community groups who work with legal information. Representatives attended from Haven Transition House and Community Victim Services, Nanaimo Region John Howard Society, Immigrant Welcome Centre, Legal Services Society Local Agent and Aboriginal Community Legal Worker, Nanaimo & Area Resource Services for Families, Nanaimo Citizen Advocacy Association, Nanaimo Justice Access Centre, Povnet, and the Nanaimo Courthouse Library.

Comments from participants included:

• Thank you for hosting and to those who participated - it re-affirms for me the need for civil law services for those who do not have funds for a lawyer.
  
  
• The networking is very useful, and learning what other agencies do.
  
  
• Meeting other community groups with the same interests is helpful.
  
  
• It would be good to meet regularly, for example twice a year, and have email contact to announce changes.

Courthouse Libraries Community Outreach Manager Drew Jackson also attended to provide an introduction to the website Clicklaw, and put together a slide show of the event:

If you would like to host a legal information forum in your community, please contact LawMatters Coordinator Janet Freeman at jfreeman@courthouselibrary.ca