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The Gatekeeper: Woman helps navigate expansive law library(Merced Sun-Star Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 11--When residents get lost in the legal system, Susan Menagh is there to point them in the right direction. As Merced County's only full-time law librarian, she herself can't tell whether citizens should file a lawsuit or who they should hire as a lawyer. Yet, surrounded by about 13,000 musty books about penal codes and court decisions, the 64-year-old Menagh has plenty of tools to help residents help themselves. Law libraries have been mandated by the state since 1891 as a way for everyone to have equal access to the law and the groundbreaking cases that have forged it. The Merced County Law Library is tucked in the old court complex inside a theater built in 1936 as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. It was hidden behind the portable buildings used as courtrooms until they were torn down late last year. Each week dozens of people, ranging from criminals to the judges who sentenced them, head to the library -- the best resource to research and learn about the law's finer points. Menagh sits next to a photo of actor Raymond Burr, playing TV series defense attorney Perry Mason, ready to help anyone plead his case. She described the library as a spider web that begins in one book and quickly branches in other directions. In other words, it's a perfect job for her. "I love the curiosity of learning things all the time," she said. Paradoxically, Menagh doesn't have a background in law or even a profound fascination of the legal maneuvering that goes on before judges. When asked, she will hand down one opinion: "I never want to get in the legal system. It just goes on and on. You don't want to put yourself through it." Menagh was hired as law librarian in January 2004, after a stint helping there part-time. Until then, she had been a mom to five kids. Her husband managed farms for a living before taking an early retirement. The law library mirrors many of her jobs as a homemaker. Balancing a checkbook is like writing an annual budget. Ordering supplies is like going shopping. Early on, to further understand the job, she made photocopies of paralegal students' homework. As a lifelong customer, she knows the frustration of waiting in a long line. She makes a priority of giving everyone quick and comprehensive help. And no one has ever left angry, which she attributed to a bowl of Snickers, Twix and mints at the front desk. She hears all kinds of stories at work. Once a mother walked in because her daughter had been in prison for about three decades and had just been denied parole. With tears welling, the woman sought help and hope. "It was a long and sorrowful story," Menagh noted. The women later wrote a letter thanking her for the assistance. Other people have given her cooked chickens, eggs and German chocolate. One of Menagh's top responsibilities is to update legal books so lawyers and judges know exactly how certain laws are being interpreted, library Board of Trustees President Tom Curry said. "If it's not kept up adequately, it has a negative effect to everyone in the community," he said. "We all use it quite a bit." Grant Wilson, Merced's most vocal medical marijuana advocate, said he visits the library about three times a week to research his battles. "I don't think I would have been able to get my point across to the Board of Supervisors without it," he said. He recently filed a lawsuit against the county, asking a court to rule that it can't ban pot dispensaries. The library's book about medical marijuana has been key to building his case, he said. "If you want to make sure people are telling the truth," he said, "you can go look it up at the law library." And a former homemaker is there, eager to be of service. Reporter Scott Jason can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or [email protected]. To see more of the Merced Sun-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mercedsunstar.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Merced Sun-Star, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |