At an age when most people are retired or at least thinking about retiring, John McCooley, 73, is just “moving on.”

 

McCooley has been the Sherburne County Law Librarian for more than 11 years. Earlier this year, he decided to make a change - but not retire.

 

“I personally feel it’s time for me to move on because I’m not using all my skills and talents,” he says. “I like to talk and get out there in the community and find out what the issues are.”

 

McCooley, who lives in Clearwater Twp. with his wife Rita, is no stranger to changes. He grew up on the south side of Chicago. After getting out of the Navy at 21 as a radio operator, second-class, he worked for Boeing in Seattle for a year, then Rosemount Engineering in Eden Prairie for 13 years. After his position there was cut because the Cold War ended, he went to the Columbia School of Broadcasting to become a radio announcer.

 

From 1975 through 1990 he was the general manager of WTCN Radio in Minneapolis before the station went out of business. Soon after, he found an old law book and started reading. In 1991, he started going to night school at Kaplan College, working to become a paralegal.

 

In 1995 he got a job in the Wright County Law Library putting books on the shelves for $7 an hour, eight hours a day, one day a week.

 

In 2003, after getting his degree in paralegal arts and sciences, he was offered a fulltime position at Wright County. 

 

That same year in March he was approached by Judge Alan Pendleton to be a part-time law librarian in Sherburne County.

 

“It was quite an experience. Judge Pendleton and Judge Varco wanted to build a new law library,” says McCooley. “They needed somebody who had experience with a law library. They didn’t have regular board meetings nor did they have monthly reports that told how much they were taking in and spending.”

 

The goal was to gather any information necessary to put together a new library - books, capacity, what was already there and whether resources were being used effectively. The library was located in a small room in the county attorney’s office.

 

“They felt they needed more than 550 square feet,” says McCooley. “But during that time the economy tanked, so we put the idea of a new building aside and we began to look at how we could better serve the community.”

 

They went out and lobbied to get attorneys from Central Minnesota Legal Services to provide free legal services to eligible clients.

 

The county currently offers a Free Law Clinic the first and third Wednesday of each month for Sherburne County residents or those with a Sherburne County case may participate.

 

The library also offers a free legal consultation or referral information Tuesdays and Thursdays to those needing legal advice.

 

McCooley is not an attorney and does not give legal advice. But he can help any client find out what they need to know about their case.

 

“I don’t practice law. My job is to find the law,  find the statute so they can begin to understand what their legal question is,” he says. 

 

He says many people come in to the library who have no idea where to start. “They don’t even know what to ask,” he says. “They may have received a summons. They may be going through a divorce or being sued. They may need to find a statute or an ordinance or a form.”

 

McCooley can tell them about the court process, which forms they need to fill out, and what they need to do if they’ve been served with papers.

 

McCooley says he enjoys his work and enjoys helping people. But working in the library has its limitations, especially since many people are now being directed to meet with the attorneys in the free law clinic.

 

“I feel like I can do more. I want to reach more people and go and talk with people,” he says.

 

His answer is something he was involved in a long time ago - radio.

 

“I knew I could do more on the radio than I could in the library. So I approached KRWC radio in 2012 to see if I could make sort of an extension of the law library by talking on the radio,” he says. “I put together a radio program for public information.”

 

That program, called “Legal Happenings” airs 12:30 p.m. on Sundays on KRWC 1360 AM. 

 

It’s an interview show where McCooley has guests in the legal field. People like Judge Steve Halsey (Wright County) and Judge Gregory Galler (Stillwater) have given commentary about legal issues of the day. He’s spoken with Wright County Sheriff Joe Hagerty about things like traffic stops. He’s interviewed a number of attorneys on lots of different issues, like criminal law, family law, juvenile law and arraignments.  

 

“We’ve put these people on the radio just to get the word out,” says McCooley, “to inform and educate.”

 

He also visits different places in the community, like food shelfs, senior centers, homeless veterans centers and public libraries, handing out flyers and answering questions to help people who may need legal information. 

 

“I’m taking the program out to them - to public places,” he says. “That’s where the people need to know about the law.”

 

McCooley “retires” from his position as Sherburne County Law Librarian at the end of October.

 

But he’ll be just as busy doing something he loves - helping people.

 

“It’s public information at its best,” he says. “And it’s something I enjoy doing.”