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About the Law Library

Hours, maps, policies, contact info, and staff. Includes information on giving to the library and academic user agreements.

The library holds more than 333,000 volumes, with 3,905 serial subscriptions, microform content the equivalent of 54,000 volumes, and different types of audio, video, and software materials.

Librarians support student and faculty research in person as well as by email, telephone, and video conferencing.

Law students with a valid ID and members of the bar may use library resources in accordance with current policy. The library is not open to the general public.

The current Library building was completed in 2000, and was the “first law library of the 21st century.” The Honorable Anthony Kennedy, while Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, dedicated our library in a special ceremony and remains a friend of the law school.

The library contains all of the materials needed for legal research, and the special collections within the Library include the following:

  • S. Houston Lay International Law Collection;
  • John R. DeBarr Military Law Collection;
  • James E. Leahy Constitutional Law and Civil Rights Collection;
  • Chin Kim Comparative Law Collection;
  • Professor Barbara Cox and Peg Habetler Sexual Minorities Law Collection;
  • Lenore L. Fraga and Paul R. Fraga Jr. Family Business Law Collection;
  • Galinson Family Creative Problem Solving Collection and Reading Area; as well as
  • California Western School of Law's Scholarly Commons that contains the following:

Situated downtown at 290 Cedar Street, our library is within easy reach of the San Diego Law Library, numerous law firms, and the federal and state court buildings.