Kate Martin

“Access to justice is a core value of law librarians – and it is becoming more critical as professional legal assistance becomes more expensive and beyond the reach of even average, middle-class Americans,” according to Kate. The problem of access to justice seems large and intractable. But that didn’t stop Kate Martin from taking action to address it. Kate organizes “Everyday Law” workshops, where people can learn about nuts-and-bolts legal issues, like their online privacy rights, or the laws that affect their houses. In addition, last year Kate organized the first national access-to-justice summit for librarians. Kate also pioneered the first conference for private firm librarians, the day-long Private Law Libraries Summit, held annually in conjunction with the American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting. No one of us can solve large problems like the justice gap – but the only way to solve big problems is when people like Kate take action in their communities.