Danielle Duarte
Rare Books
Materials located in the Rare Book Room are available to patrons from 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Patrons, including BYU faculty, should contact the Reference Desk for help accessing materials from the Rare Book Room. A librarian will locate the book and bring it to the patron in the Law Library Reserve Room next to the Circulation Desk. Patrons are not permitted to remove any items from the Rare Book Room from the Reserve Room. The book will be checked out to the patron during use. Patrons must return all materials from the Rare Book Room to the circulation clerk when finished.
Finding a Book
Step 1: Find the book listed in our law library website’s search (“the catalog”).
Step 2: Write down or take a picture of the collection name, the call number, and any further information listed. Example:
In the picture above, the collection name is “Law Library Main Collection,” the call number is “K 3258 .D874 2010”, and the further information is that it is available on the 3rd floor. The main collection is–you guessed it–our main collection and what most of our shelves are a part of.
Step 3: Check the map (link to maps here) to see more or less where it will be and then go scouting. The ends of the shelves have labels to say which call numbers are down that aisle and they are all alphabetically and then numerically in order.
Step 4: You either successfully found the book (yay!), or you may need to ask Reference Services for help. You can call (801) 422-6658, text (801) 422-3596, or email reference@law.byu.edu for help. A link to the book on our website is always helpful to share with them. For reference hours, see here.
Note: Most call numbers for law library books begin with KF, which is the category for “law.” So any call number in the main collection before KF is in the northwest corner of the 3rd floor of the law library. Anything after KF tends to be on the 1st floor (the basement floor) of the law library.
For other collection names besides “Law Library Main Collection,” the green information will tell you which floor it is on. You may also want to ask Reference Services for help on finding where that collection may be located.