Franklin County Law Library books shredded, petitioner alleges

GREENFIELD -- When the brand-new Franklin County Justice Center opened in February, hundreds of old law books apparently didn't make the trip.

The reference tomes once shelved at the old Franklin County Courthouse were hauled away and destroyed because of space constraints, a petitioner alleges.

Three truckloads of books "comprising 86 percent of the 200-year-old collection" at the Franklin County Law Library were delivered to North Star Pulp and Paper in Springfield and shredded for two cents a pound, according to Wendell resident Lisa Hoag, who started an online petition.

"These books are the property of the People of Massachusetts," she wrote. "They are the legacy of wise jurisprudence, bequeathed to us by our forebears, and they belong to all past, present and future generations of Massachusetts Citizens."

She said if armed gunmen had entered the law library and destroyed books, "it would have been on the cover of every newspaper in the country."

Hoag alleges that some sets of books were more than 100 years old and worth thousands of dollars. "They are irreplaceable," she wrote.

Books were culled in part to accommodate a more heavily-used consumer service center in the new courthouse, officials told the Greenfield Recorder.

A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Trial Court said the use of law libraries around the state has been down, and that fewer and fewer people use them. She said a lot of material on the shelves "was just outdated" and no longer valid.

She said Franklin County Law Librarian Kathy Ludwig consulted with the Franklin County Bar Association, and that many old books found new homes and were not shredded.

Franklin County Register of Probate and Family Court John F. Merrigan pushed hard to create an innovative "court service center" at the new building, and has said providing support for courtroom clients is a top priority.

He said the family-friendly centers, with their computer terminals, help people get up-to-date, relevant information about the legal system. Merrigan noted that the area has a large number of self-represented clients, and that the service center draws a steady stream every day.

Hoag countered that most of the old volumes are not available online, but that that's not the point. She said there's nothing like having real books open on a wooden table.

"These books are the living memory of how our Constitution was interpreted a century ago, before our constitutional rights had become so eroded that they are now no longer being properly enforced," she wrote.

Hoag said she misses the old "Harry Potter" law library with its marble floors, panel doors, solid oak tables, and helpful law librarian.

"It felt like walking back 100 years in time, to a time and place where it was still treated as an honor to be a citizen," she wrote.

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