Justice Muñiz participates in a Zoom education program with third graders from Ward-Highlands Elementary School in Ocala.

With funding sources drying up, and with judges, attorneys, legal scholars, self-represented litigants, and others increasingly turning to digitized sources to conduct legal research, law libraries across the nation have been reconsidering the best ways to serve their users and to make best use of their space.  Chief Justice Canady is among those who have been wrestling with these questions, and, in early 2020, he approved, and engaged the National Center for State Courts to conduct, a two-part study of the Florida Supreme Court Law Library that includes exploring the idea of developing an educational learning center.  Phase one of the study, completed in January 2021, was an assessment of library operations and resources (the chief justice sought recommendations for maximizing service opportunities and optimizing budget efficiencies).  The court is in the process of hiring a new librarian, and, once that position is filled, phase two will proceed: building on the findings of phase one, the National Center will develop recommendations regarding the library collection and space planning, including the possibility of creating an educational learning center within the library space.  The report from that final study will go to the full Court for a decision, with input from the librarian.

In the meantime, due to the pandemic, which forced the closure of the building to visitors, the supreme court’s Public Information Office and its Library have been working together to develop a rich repository of educational programming for virtual tours—material that can become part of a virtual learning center, if approved by the court.  For many years, the supreme court website has hosted a bounty of educational resources and information about teaching the judicial branch.  To these, add the virtual tours, and it’s clear that a virtual learning center would already have a strong foundation in place.

Justice Labarga conducted a virtual supreme court building tour for Florida Association for Women Lawyers in March 2021.

In a typical year, more than 10,000 people—including school groups, civic organizations, and leadership groups—visit the supreme court to take tours and participate in education programs.  But when COVID-19 forced the court to close to visitors in March 2020, Ms Emilie Rietow, the supreme court’s education and information administrator, began inviting these groups to take virtual tours of the building.  During these virtual tours, Ms Rietow introduces visitors to the public areas of the building—including the courtroom, the lawyer’s lounge, the rotunda, and the library—and she also teaches them about Florida’s judicial branch, the different levels of courts in Florida, and how the supreme court operates.  Typically, the supreme court archivist, Mr. Erik Robinson, joins the tours to highlight the treasures in the rare book room.  And, often, a justice is available to join the tour virtually and answer questions.

During the Seminole State Community College Law Club’s virtual supreme court building tour in November 2020, Justice Grosshans joined in to talk about her journey in the legal field and to answer visitors’ questions.​

These virtual tours have been remarkably successful.  According to Ms Rietow, they seem to lead to higher levels of engagement than in-person tours: participants seem more comfortable with the process, ask more questions, and exhibit more interest and animation.  And she noted that shy people and people with disabilities or learning disabilities seem particularly at home with the virtual tours and especially appreciate the chat feature, which enables them to ask their questions unselfconsciously and at their own pace.  Another benefit is that virtual tours can reach multiple classrooms at once—and up to 300 people can be present on a given tour.  Finally, virtual tours enable anyone with internet access to visit the court, even those who are never likely to find themselves in Tallahassee.  For these reasons, the supreme court is seriously considering continuing the virtual tour program even after it becomes safe to open the building to visitors again.  (This link goes to additional information about tours and education programs at the supreme court.)

The virtual tours and the variety of other educational materials and resources on the Florida Supreme Court website are available to all Floridians and to visitors from around the world who want to learn more about the Florida courts system and significant cases and issues in Florida’s legal history.  This initiative is part of the Florida judiciary’s effort to build and maintain public trust and confidence in the courts and implement effective communications with the public.