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Androscoggin County Law Library to Close its Books

AUBURN, Maine — The thousands of publicly-owned legal books at the Androscoggin County Law Library might soon be headed to the dump, another victim of the digital age.

Maine Court Administrator James Glessner says all 16 counties in the state once had active law libraries, but it's now too expensive to buy updated volumes and most lawyers do their legal research online these days.

John Clifford, a Lisbon lawyer and president of the county bar association, says many of the books are out of date and probably haven't been opened in decades. He tells the Sun Journal he's never used the library and doesn't know anyone who has.

Plus, the Androscoggin County Courthouse needs the space to keep up with a growing caseload.

Other counties have tried selling their law libraries, without success