The Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library joins the Houston Bar Association and other legal organizations across the state in celebrating Law Week 2026. This year’s theme, “The Texas Constitution and the Rule of Law,” carries special significance, as 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of the current Texas Constitution, which took effect on February 15, 1876.
Read moreLaw Day 2026: The Rule of Law, the American Dream, and Access for All
Each year on May 1, we observe Law Day—a national moment to reflect on the role of law in our daily lives and in the life of our democracy. The 2026 theme, “The Rule of Law and the American Dream,” invites us to consider how legal structures shape opportunity, stability, and fairness.
Read moreTech Tuesday: Justice Tech and the “In-Between” Gap: Why Libraries Matter
For this Tech Tuesday, our director, Andre Davison, highlights the growing role of justice tech tools. These innovations—especially legal aid AI assistants—offer scalable, responsible support, and law libraries are becoming essential guides helping communities find and use trustworthy resources.
Read moreGeography and the Law: Identifying Legal Deserts with GIS Mapping Tools
In 2016, during Geography Awareness Week, Ex Libris Juris featured a brief discussion of GIS mapping technology and its applications for understanding Access to Justice (A2J). In the years since, opportunities for GIS data analysis in the A2J community have only grown. Today, November 20, is GIS Day, the perfect time to highlight additional uses of GIS software for analysis of datasets relevant to law. An assortment of GIS applications for legal contexts are mentioned in the list below, alongside two additional short compilations—a sampling of StoryMaps and a beginner’s collection of mapping tools for your own GIS projects.
Read moreIntroducing the LAWPod: Bridging the Justice Gap on Law Day 2024
As we commemorate Law Day 2024, dedicated to celebrating the principles of democracy and the rule of law, we are thrilled to unveil a groundbreaking initiative that embodies these values: the LAWPod. Developed through a significant collaboration between the Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library and the Harris County Public Library, the LAWPod initiative is poised to revolutionize legal access and empowerment within our community.
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