The Library

Our Collections

The library is your conduit to the world of legal information. Through a variety of strategic partnerships with libraries around the world, the library can connect you with the information you need throughout your law school education. The library is proud to feature strong print and electronic collections, as well as a nationally-known rare book collection.

The library's electronic collections have been assembled to provide students with the opportunity to develop their research skills on the very tools they will find in law practice, from LexisNexis and Westlaw, to specialized databases in a variety of practice areas covering both U.S. and foreign law. And while powerful digital resources can reach students and faculty wherever they are, a deep collection of current and historical legal materials from the United States and around the world awaits the researcher who visits the library in person.  These include comprehensive collections in primary U.S. law, an extensive selection of foreign laws, and selected materials to support interdisciplinary scholarship.

The Rare Book collection at the College of Law contains more than 10,000 volumes dating from the sixteenth through the twentieth century in a range of areas from the Anglo-American tradition to renaissance Europe to pre-Communist China.  The law collection is particularly strong in United States and British law and, appropriately, one of the few in America with a comprehensive run of Blackstone's Commentaries.

The nation's foremost expert on legal rare books has said of the Rare Book collection at the College of Law that it easily ranks among the top ten in the country. This is due not only the impressive breadth and depth of the collection, but also the inclusion of many items found only at the Jenner Law Library. From the handwritten diaries and case notes of nineteenth century jurists to practitioner marginalia in eighteenth century reporters to the many examples of "ephemera" in the form of sensational cases involving murder and treason, sold as true crime thrillers of the day, the collection is, by any measure, extraordinary.

Our Services

Though the library's collections are impressive, the heart of the library is in its team of information professionals and the services they provide.

The library is staffed with friendly, welcoming librarians and staff who are committed to providing excellent service. All our reference librarians are experts in legal research, with graduate degrees in law and in information science.  The library takes an active role in student learning, beginning in the first year with the legal research course, and continuing into the second and third years with advanced research skills training.

Facilities

The library's various seating areas provide comfortable space for research and scholarship, offering a variety of options for both quiet and group study. Wireless access to the internet is available throughout the library's first and second floor study areas, making the library's electronic resources accessible from the study space of your choice.  Library hours are scheduled with students' needs in mind, and are extended during exam study periods.