ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Christine Sexton took over as the librarian for the Taylor County Law Library back in August of 2022. Since then, she’s seen a 67% increase in library traffic but is looking for more.

“I think it is a little underutilized, that’s why I’m here today,” said Sexton. “I want to let people know that this is a service that is available to the public so that if you have a legal problem, you can come up here and you’re free to do it.”

The law library is free to use with no appointment necessary.

“Say you have a legal matter that you need to deal with and you either don’t want to pay the lawyer fees or you can’t necessarily afford them, you can come in here do your own legal research using any of our books,” Sexton explained. “We have thousands, or get on one of our computers where we have a couple subscriptions to legal databases.”

The library has ‘Pro se’ packets for certain life events, like a divorce, that can be purchased and filed by yourself; saving time and more money.

“I want to be clear, not everything you’re going to be able to do can be done by yourself, you might actually end up needing a lawyer. But having this resource available gives you the opportunity to come in and see if you can do it by yourself, because lawyers are expensive. If your legal matter is simple or you’re able to sit down and do the research for yourself, you can save thousands of dollars,” Sexton said.

She said she wants to be clear; this library is for everyone.

“You do not have to worry about a language barrier. I will make it work to make sure you get what you need,” Sexton said.

The Taylor County Law Library is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with a lunch break from noon to 1:00p.m. and is located on the third floor of the Taylor County Courthouse. Anyone can utilize its resources and it’s not limited to Taylor County residents.