Student Services

Collections

The Law Library seeks to support student scholarship by maintaining and expanding collections that are both comprehensive and diverse and targeted towards student needs.  The Law Library is home to several collections that are designed to enhance the law school experience.  Collections of particular interest to law students are:

Reserve— The reserve holdings include materials designated for reserve by members of the law faculty for use in their courses.

Open Reserve– Nutshells, hornbooks and other study aids generously donated by students are available for 48 hour checkout and browsing.  The collection is located in the reference area near the Circulation Desk. 

Exam Back files—Past examinations administered at the law school and donated by members of the law faculty are available electronically and in print at the Circulation Desk.

The Escape Hatch Collection — DVDs, videos and books with legal themes or attorneys as characters are available for recreational reading and viewing with a 7 day checkout.  Browse at your leisure, the collection is located in the reference area across from Open Reserve. 

Copy Machines, Wireless, Carrels, Off Campus Access and 24 Hour Access

The Law Library is primarily for the use of law students and faculty.  Law students have 24 hour access via use of their identification cards.  Identification cards are required by entry doors for access from late evening through early morning.

Copy machines, which accept University cards as well as coins and bills, are located on the Main and Upper Stacks levels of the Library. 

A wireless network is accessible throughout the Law Library. 

Many of the law databases are IP restricted due to restrictions in the licensing agreements governing use of the databases.  Instructions for off campus access to IP restricted databases are available at http://law.wlu.edu/technology/page.asp?pageid=539. 

The Law Library is designed to provide a welcoming space for study and collaboration. Each student is assigned his or her own carrel for individual study space.  Questions regarding carrels should be directed to Macy Coffey in the Library Administrative Office.  A carrel list is available online and is displayed in the hall outside the Library Administrative Office.

Research Page, Annie, Interlibrary Loan, Reference and E-mail Reference

The Library Research page is a gateway to Library services, information and resources.  "Annie" is the online catalog for Washington and Lee University providing access to the holdings of the Law Library and the other University Libraries.  Materials not available at the University may be requested through interlibrary loan.  Please contact Linda Newell or a Reference Librarian for assistance with any interlibrary loan requests.

E-mail reference enables a student to ask questions of a Reference Librarian.  Questions are usually answered within 24 hours of receipt.

The Law Library provides reference assistance from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday.  Inquire at the Circulation Desk for a Reference Librarian.

Circulation

Law students may check out the Law Library's circulating meterials by using any of the self-checkout terminals located on the third floor at the Circulation Desk or on either level of the stacks.  Materials may also be checked out at the Circulation Desk by a library assistant.  Students may renew materials online unless the materials have been requested by another patron or have been renewed twice.  Students with overdue items may not check out additional materials.  Circulation periods vary depending upon the resource.  In general, the categories of resources and their loan periods are:

Reading Room, Escape Hatch, New titles, Stacks, Court Reports & Periodicals - 7 days

Closed reserve - 4 hours

Open reserve - 48 hours

Audio/Visual - 48 hours

Non-Circulating - rare book room; reference; current magazines