ABSTRACT
For many law libraries serving courts, counties, states, or the federal government, a daily challenge is meeting the widely varying needs of the clientele. The librarian in many of these libraries is expected to help the judges, lawyers, and the public with the same level of care and diligence. His or her responsibility to all patrons does not stop with reference service, but often expands to include collection development, current awareness, and circulation policies as well. While the judge has an expert knowledge of the legal system and the research tools, the layperson inevitably does not. The law librarian in this environment must be able to switch gears rapidly to accommodate the patrons and to balance the various needs of the user groups when making acquisition decisions.
