Students: you can store your books in the Law Library.

Law students interested in storing research materials inside the Law Library can now reserve a book truck for the semester.  When you store books on your reserved book truck, library staff will leave them there (instead of shelving them or putting them in the lost and found.)

Some key points:

  • Book trucks are in the Law Library’s computer lab, and must remain there at all times.
  • Only books may be stored here. This can include your personal books, books from other libraries on campus, or books you have checked out from the Law Library.
  • All Law Library items stored on your book truck must be checked out to you. Please do not pull materials off the shelves and leave them on your book truck without checking them out, even for a short time. Get a colored flag from the Service Counter for all Law Library materials you will be storing on your book truck, so that staff know which items should be there.
  • The Law Library is not responsible for the security of anything stored on a book truck. This includes Law Library items – Law Library items lost, stolen or damaged while on a book truck are the same as Law Library items lost, stolen or damaged anywhere else. You are still responsible for overdue or replacement charges.

For more information, see the Book Truck Brochure or speak to a Law Library staff member.

Email the Reference Desk

Law students: did you know that you can ask us reference questions anytime, from anywhere? The Law Library recently set up an email address for students to use when they have research questions but can’t get to the reference desk:

refdesk@law.uci.edu

Reference librarians and research specialists respond to email from law students during regular desk hours: Monday through Friday, 9am to 5 pm.

Library Fines Start Tue. 9/6

Presidential Dollar CoinBeginning Tuesday, September 6th, the Law Library will begin collecting overdue fines for all materials that are not returned on time. Any fine accrued on or after that date will be subject to collection; however, all Law Library fines from prior dates will be waived.

Any Law Library fine—no matter how small the amount—will block your library account and prevent you from checking out Law Library materials. All fines must be paid in full; partial payments do not remove this block. Pay Law Library fines at the Law Library Service Counter.

Fines generally work like this:

  • Reserve books and study room keys: $2 per hour (or portion of an hour)
  • Circulating books: $1 per day
  • Automatic “lost item” charge: Your account will incur a replacement charge automatically, as follows:
    • Reserve items are considered “lost” after 16 hours.
    • Circulating items are considered “lost” after 28 days.
  • If you return the overdue item after that time, the replacement charge will be removed; however, you will still be subject to overdue fines and/or a bill-processing charge.

Please note that different libraries on campus each have their own, separate policies for fines. Fines from other libraries cannot be paid at the Law Library, and fines for Law Library items cannot be paid at any other library.

The Academic Law Library in the 21st Century

The inaugural issue of the UC Irvine Law Review includes an essay by Law Library director Beatrice Tice about (appropriately enough) academic law libraries. Dean Tice describes the relationship between law libraries and law schools, surveys the history of academic law libraries, and discusses the enduring role of the law library as “the heart of the law school.”

Articles in this first symposium issue are available online from UC Irvine Law Review. Congratulations to everyone who helped put this together!