Hello

   The Cincinnati Law Library came into being in the middle of the 19th. Century at a time when “bigger was better.”  Law firm libraries were massive and filled entire rooms. That was then, this is now; and you can see it almost everywhere in the legal community. It’s the reign of palm pilots and laptops.... Gone, or fading, at least, are the massive collections of bound books & bookcases.
 
   The Law Library is a unique entity in a number of ways. It is a private, non-profit, membership library. It is also one of Ohio’s 88 county law libraries funded, in part, with public funds.  County law libraries were created to serve its membership and the judges & elected officials of the general legal community in the area, but as time goes on it’s becoming very evident that they will no longer have the luxury of just collecting books.  There will have to be a much greater outreach if they are to survive.
 
   Four years ago in the Ohio Courts Futures Commission Report (http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/publications/futures/ ), one of the recommendations made to the Supreme Court for overall improvement to Ohio’s judicial system was to have courthouses and county law libraries linked together in a statewide network.  The Future Courts Commission also suggested that “court users in all 88 counties have access to that network’s resources through court-provided terminals or other user-friendly means.”
 
 We will use this blawg to reach out and share news and items of interest with our members, and the library and legal communities.