The Role of Libraries in Enhancing Access to Justice in Canada

By: Lou Lamari, Articling Student-at-Law (University of Manitoba Faculty of Law)

In Manitoba and across the country, libraries contribute meaningfully to civic engagement and community well-being, serving as important partners in the broader access to justice (A2J) ecosystem. The Canadian Federation of Library Associations states a mission for Canadian libraries to provide “free access to the information and resources that many Canadians—especially those who face socioeconomic barriers—need to maximize their personal development and wellbeing and their contributions to the economy.”[1]

Libraries are about much more than just borrowing books – they are an important mechanism for community engagement and social inclusion.[2] History demonstrates that often the more involvement that there is in a community, the better aid that community’s people receive.[3] Libraries, including the Winnipeg Public Library, often meet people in the community that they serve, which has a positive impact on groups such as seniors and people living in poverty. One way that libraries integrate themselves into the community is through the creation of partnerships with community organizations. These partnerships can create a platform for sharing community issues, exploring ways to address them, and creating action plans to community issues.[4]

One way that local librarians are contributing to access to justice in Manitoba is through the Legal Information for Incarcerated Manitobans project, operated through the Manitoba Law Library in partnership with the Manitoba Law Society, Manitoba Library Association, and Manitoba Law Foundation. Through studying prison libraries, they were able to find relevant and current policies and statements that addressed prisoners’ rights to information.[5] Since the initiative began, they have begun to address gathering resources, improving current spaces, creating book clubs, and have provided services directly to incarcerated persons.

[Professional librarians] are passionate about literacy, learning, and fair and equal access to resources for all. Prisoners are still citizens and deserve access to these rights. Despite prison regulations, rules and policies, they have been able to provide resources that will give many inmates hope, good stories, and relevant information so they too can continue to reach their full potential as a human being. These resources will likely be one of their stepping stones to being reintegrated into regular everyday society.[6]

The prison libraries initiative is fundamentally connected to access to information. Social justice ideas such as equity or equality of access to information and fair treatment of disenfranchised persons has long been central to the information professions.[7] Access to information in Manitoba disproportionately affects low-income people and those with limited education, in addition to other factors such as those with rural and remote geography. These groups may have less domestic access to the web, and skills and culture to make use of public access. This group tends to also be the most negatively impacted by the migration of library services to online platforms, when doing so leads to the elimination of or a reduction of in-person services.[8] Due to information access gaps that are largely impacted by internet access and literacy skills, librarians need to be cognizant of how information services are developed to ensure that socially just outcomes sought can be realized.[9]

A large issue affecting access to information in the 21st century is the digital divide. In contemporary North American society, digital media has become a fact of modern society, and there has never been so much information readily available. In many ways this makes information more accessible, creating a positive impact. However, factors such as economics, location, education and training can cause a lack of access to digital information. Public libraries have become the frontline for many who may have limited or no access to digital information in their homes or communities.[10] According to Statistics Canada, approximately 6% of all Canadians do not have access to the internet at home, with this number rising to 11% in rural areas.[11] In a society where digital media has become so central, being subject to an information deficit through an inability to navigate the digital world can have negative implications on an individual’s quality of life.[12]

Resource librarians are integral to the library’s role in access to justice. Librarians can direct individuals to reliable sources, explain how to use databases, and suggest referrals to relevant community resources. Some libraries may offer materials such as plain-language legal guides, access to online legal resources, and curated collections on topics ranging from housing rights to family law.

Unfortunately, many libraries are subject to public funding regimes and as a consequence, libraries may close, hours may be restricted, staffing levels may be reduced and/or professional library staff may be replaced by non-library-professionals doing professional work.[13] All of this could lead to  a cycle of decline as less and less people may realize the value of these institutions. Many libraries are struggling with increased patron needs while being subject to less funding and support.

What was once an issue of access to books in the early part of the twentieth century has become an issue of digital information access in the twenty-first century… Too often libraries are seen as expendable and low on the scale of importance because of antiquated ideas of what libraries do and mean to the socio economic stability of whole communities.[14]

In school, whether or not one was a bookworm, most of us understood the library as a place you could go to find a book or sit in a quiet place. As a quiet kid, I volunteered in my school’s library nearly every day before and after school. For me, it was somewhere to belong. For many people in our society, it has a similar purpose – a safe space to ask questions, access resources, and sometimes, one of few places people feel they can do these things without judgement. As school libraries can foster a sense of belonging for children, community libraries extend this same sanctuary to adults who face barriers in accessing information. By offering access to internet, info guides on legal issues, and referrals to necessary support services, libraries serve an important role in the access to justice system.


[1] Canadian Federation of Library Associations, “About” (last visited 12 December 2024) online: <cfla-fcab.ca/en/about/>.

[2] John Feather, “Free and Equal Access: a Conundrum for the Information Society” in Wendy Evans & David Baker, eds, Libraries and Society (United Kingdom: Elsevier Science & Technology, 2011) at 74.

[3] Meghan Moran, “Public Librarians and Community Engagement: The Way Forward” in Renee F Hill, ed, Hope and a Future: Perspectives on the Impact that Librarians and Libraries Have on our World (Leeds: Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021) at 139

[4] Ibid at 141.

[5] Vivianne Fogarty, “Libraries and Human Rights – Working Together to Reach Our Full Potential” in Ursula Gorham, Natalie Greene Taylor, Paul T Jaeger, eds, Perspectives on Libraries as Institutions of Human Rights and Social Justice (Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, 2016) at 87.

[6] Ibid at 87.

[7] Punit Dadlani, “Social Justice Concepts and Public Libraries: A Case Study” in Ursula Gorham, Natalie Greene Taylor, Paul T Jaeger, eds, Perspectives on Libraries as Institutions of Human Rights and Social Justice (Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, 2016) at 16.

[8] Feather, supra note 2 at 76-77.

[9] Dadlani, supra note 7 at 16.

[10] Conrad Pegues, “Libraries and the Creation of Information Access Deserts” in Renee F Hill, ed, Hope and a Future: Perspectives on the Impact that Librarians and Libraries Have on our World (Leeds: Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021) at 81.

[11] Statistics Canada, “Access to the Internet at home by geography” (20 July 2023) online: <www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2210013401>.

[12] Pegues, supra note 10 at 82.

[13] Feather, supra note 2 at 71.

[14] Pegues, supra note 10 at 86-87.


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