| Mondays | 9am-5pm |
| Tuesdays | 9am-5pm |
| Wednesdays | 9am-5pm |
| Thursdays | 9am-5pm |
| Fridays | 9am-5pm |
| Saturdays | No Reference Hours Offered |
| Sundays | No Reference Hours Offered |
| Monday, January 18, 2021 | No Reference Hours Offered |
| Monday, Feburary 15, 2021 | No Reference Hours Offered |
Call 801.422.6658
to inquire about additional exceptions to Reference Services hours.
EFFECTIVE until further notice —
Access to the BYU Law Building and in-person Law Library Services are currently restricted to members of the Law School community. Services to other patrons are being offered virtually.
See information for BYU faculty and students below.
See information for non-BYU patrons below.
Visit the BYU Law School COVID-19 Policies page.
All library services are currently still available to law students and faculty; however, some services are only offered virtually.
See the main law library page for the hours for today and for future library hours.
Contact the circulation desk with questions about checked-out books, including overdues: colemanm@law.byu.edu or 801-422-3656. Due dates can be extended and overdue fines forgiven.
Contact Melanie Coleman (colemanm@law.byu.edu or 801-422-3656) to request an extension for due dates on ILL books. The library that owns the book will make the final determination; however, most are extending due dates as many ILL offices have closed.
Carrel keys may be returned to the circulation desk during operating hours. The email from Dianne Davenport has detailed information on checking out of your carrel.
The reference desk is now closed for the safety of our librarians, student employees, and patrons.
The hours that reference services are available virtually are listed here. We recommend you email when possible. However, the options include:
For trouble accessing electronic resources, contact Iantha Haight (haighti@law.byu.edu or 801-422-9023).
Library liaisons are continuing to provide the full range of faculty services. You may contact them by email or phone.
This service is currently still available for law faculty. To request assistance with a research project please contact your library liaison.
This service is also currently still available to law faculty, with some limitations. To request assistance with a data project, please contact your library liaison.
Beginning Friday, March 27th, on-site access to the Law Library is restricted to members of the law school community. However, many law library services are still available virtually to other BYU faculty and students.
BYU faculty and students can still check out books and other library materials. Please call the circulation desk for assistance (801-422-3593). Requests may also be submitted by emailing Melanie Coleman at colemanm@law.byu.edu. Please include your name, BYU ID number, and the title and/or call number for the materials you would like to check out.
Contact the circulation desk for questions regarding checked-out books (including overdues) at: colemanm@law.byu.edu or 801-422-3656. Due dates can be extended and overdue fines forgiven.
For materials that do not circulate, please contact Melanie Coleman at: 801-422-3656 or colemanm@law.byu.edu.
Document Delivery is available for BYU community patrons that do not have access to the Law Library. Patrons can request copies of journal articles or book chapters. Submit requests to Melanie Coleman at colemanm@law.byu.edu. Please provide the book title/journal title and the chapter, article, or specific pages you would like scanned.
Please note:
The reference desk is now closed for the safety of our librarians, student employees, and patrons.
The hours that reference services are available virtually are listed here. We recommend you email when possible. However, your options include:
Beginning Friday, March 27th, on-site access to the Law Library is restricted to members of the law school community. However, many law library services are still available virtually to non-BYU patrons.
Please call or email the circulation desk for assistance (801-422-3593 or colemanm@law.byu.edu). For example, attorneys may still check out CDs for CLE credits. They simply need to coordinate their account, what they need, and the time they will pick it up with colemanm@law.byu.edu.
Contact the circulation desk for questions regarding checked-out books (including overdues) at: colemanm@law.byu.edu or 801-422-3656. Due dates can be extended and overdue fines forgiven.
For materials that do not circulate, please contact Melanie Coleman at: 801-422-3656 or colemanm@law.byu.edu.
Document Delivery is available for non-BYU patrons that do not have access to the Law Library. Patrons can request copies of journal articles or book chapters. Submit requests to Melanie Coleman at colemanm@law.byu.edu. Please provide the book title/journal title and the chapter, article, or specific pages you would like scanned.
Please note:
The reference desk is now closed for the safety of our librarians, student employees, and patrons.
Virtual reference is available to non-BYU patrons. The hours that reference services are available virtually are listed here. We recommend that you email when possible. However, there are several options including:
Westlaw Patron Access
Westlaw is providing a means whereby the public can access Westlaw (with some time limitations) since the library is closed to public patrons. For information on how to do that, see this law library blog post.
Library liaisons are assigned to each full-time law school faculty member. These liaisons act as intermediaries between the Law Library and the faculty. Liaisons meet with their assigned faculty regularly to determine individual library needs and research interests. They also ensure that faculty members are aware of library services and collections and seek suggestions regarding how library services can be improved. Library liaisons are available to assist faculty members with their research needs. They obtain library material for faculty members and arrange for other library services that are needed or requested.
Specific services might include:
| Curtis Anderson | Kory Staheli |
| Clark Asay | Shawn Nevers |
| Kif Augustine-Adams | David Armond |
| Stephanie Bair | Annalee Hickman |
| Elizabeth Clark | Dennis Sears |
| Will Clayton | Iantha Haight |
| Justin Collings | Dennis Sears |
| Ben Cook | Kory Staheli |
| Brigham Daniels | Annalee Hickman |
| Elysa Dishman | Iantha Haight |
| John Fee | Laurie Urquiaga |
| Cliff Fleming | Dennis Sears |
| Fred Gedicks | Iantha Haight |
| Kristin Gerdy | Kory Staheli |
| Brook Gotberg | Iantha Haight |
| Carl Hernandez | Kory Staheli |
| Christine Hurt | Iantha Haight |
| Matthew Jennejohn | Annalee Hickman |
| Eric Jensen | Dennis Sears |
| Cree Jones | Shawn Nevers |
| David Moore | Shawn Nevers |
| Aaron Nielson | Iantha Haight |
| Carolina Núñez | Annalee Hickman |
| Brett Scharffs | Dennis Sears |
| Gladriel Shobe | Tina Wilder |
| Jarrod Shobe | Shawn Nevers |
| Gordon Smith | David Armond |
| Paul Stancil | Annalee Hickman |
| Michalyn Steele | Tina Wilder |
| Lisa Grow Sun | Shawn Nevers |
| Dane Thorley | Tina Wilder |
The Law Library employs law student reference assistants to assist law faculty with their research needs. These law students provide support for law faculty who either do not have enough ongoing work to justify hiring their own research assistants or need assistance beyond their own research assistants. The reference assistants are meant to complement, not replace, individual faculty research assistants. The reference assistants work primarily on research requests
In addition to providing research support to law school faculty, the reference assistants also assist library users at the reference desk on the main floor of the Law Library.
Data project support is a faculty service the Law Library provides to law faculty. The support is provided by data assistants (undergraduate students), who collect data and/or enter data that does not require legal knowledge or background. The data assistants also work on data projects supporting corpus linguistics. The data assistants are hired, trained, and managed by the Data Project Manager Teresa Odam. Faculty requests for data project support may be made through faculty liaisons who will coordinate with the Data Project Manager to ensure the carrying out and completion of the requested data project.
The reference assistants will continue to provide support for data projects that require some legal training, though traditional research requests may receive
The Library faculty are available to work with and train faculty research assistants in the process of legal research and to suggest research strategies for particular research projects. Summer RA training takes place the last day of Winter semester, typically on the Friday afternoon of graduation. Contact Shawn Nevers for more information. Law Professors are also welcome to send their RAs to class sessions of Advanced Legal Research, scheduled during Winter semester. For the syllabus or more information, contact Shawn Nevers at (801) 422-8784, or neverss@law.byu.edu.
Faculty members are encouraged to recommend new titles for the collection. Requests for purchase should be sent to the Law Library Director, Kory Staheli, at (801) 422-9223 or stahelik@law.byu.edu.
Interlibrary Loan is a FREE service that the Law Library provides through agreements with other libraries to expand the walls and provide access to a variety of materials that we may not have in our own collection.
ILL pulls materials first from the Law Library. If the material cannot be found here, then the search extends to the Lee Library and to other libraries after. It is rare for materials not to be available through this process. The library may purchase materials that are important to your research. Contact your library liaison about doing so.
— Or —
Set up an appointment with Melanie, who is the Circulation Librarian and ILL Specialist; she will be able to help you navigate through the ILL process and help you obtain the materials you need.
To set up your account, go to illiad.lib.byu.edu/ILLiad/ and sign in using your net ID and password, and then fill out your account information.
You may also set up an appointment with Melanie and she will be able to assist you in creating your account.
In most cases we are able to obtain the items you need, but occasionally some items cannot be sent physically. The ILL specialist will work with you to reach a solution. There are many other specific items that can be scanned and obtained rather than entire publications, textbooks, or print including:
Melanie Coleman—Circulation Librarian and ILL Specialist
Email: colemanm@law.byu.edu
Phone: 801-422-3656
Feel free to set up an appointment with Melanie if you have any questions about ILL.
Due to past experience, our recommendation for law faculty when materials are needed from the Lee Library is to contact their Liaison, the Law Library Reference Desk, or Melanie Coleman; or to submit an online request through InterLibrary Loan (ILL). We have developed procedures to retrieve materials quickly and to automatically reroute requests to other libraries (ILL) if a requested item is not immediately available at the Lee Library.
However, if needed, law faculty may request proxy privileges for a secretary or a research assistant that allows the designated proxy to check out materials from the law library in the faculty member’s name. Research assistants should never be encouraged or required to use their personal accounts to borrow materials for faculty members.
Law Library proxy privileges should be requested through Melanie Coleman via email. The Harold B. Lee Library also provides proxy privileges according to their established policies.
The Law Library maintains several reserve collections, described below. Reserve collections may consist of both materials purchased by the Library and personal copies. To place an item in one of the reserve collections, faculty members should contact Melanie Colaman at (801) 422-3656 or colemanm@law.byu.edu.
Locked Reserve: Locked reserve consists of course reserve, audio/visual reserve, software reserve, professor files, and hard-copy sample exams. All of these items are located behind the Circulation Desk and may only be borrowed for a limited time. Course reserve and professor files may be borrowed for 2 hours at a time. Audio/visual and software reserve items circulate for 24 hours.
Course Reserve: Course reserve consists of texts and supplementary materials for courses presently being taught. It is located behind the Circulation Desk. There is a binder at the attendant’s desk that lists the title and call number of all items in course reserve. Items in this collection may be checked out for 2 hours. Overdue Course Reserve items carry a fine of $2.00 per hour.
Electronic Reserve: Electronic reserve consists of selected reading materials which are made available online in various formats. The Library maintains access to sample exams and the Perspectives on Law Collection. Readings for specific courses are most often available through individual class pages or through TWEN.
Reserve Library: The Reserve Library is located on the second floor, in room 280 JRCB (near Circulation). The Reserve Library consists of high-use monographs (texts, outlines, restatements, etc.), current legal newspapers, 3 week’s worth of popular reading newspapers, 1 year’s worth of popular reading magazines, bulletins from other law schools, unbound/current legal periodicals, along with most of the Utah Law Collection — including copies of the state code, and the codes for various Utah cities. The Biblical Law and Benson Collections are also located in the Reserve Library.
Law Library faculty are available to come into law classes to teach students how to conduct legal research in specialized areas and demonstrate how to use specific resources. Librarians can give students an overview of the Library’s print holdings and relevant electronic databases. This type of instruction can be very useful to students, especially in seminar courses where a paper is required. Requests for such lectures can be arranged through faculty liaisons.
The Law School is committed to the enforcement and protection of copyrights as both a legal and an ethical imperative. A copyright is a set of exclusive rights that vests in the author of an original work of authorship (including literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, sculptural, and motion picture works). The copyright attaches upon the work’s creation (when it is “fixed in a tangible medium of expression”); current law does not require the formalities of registration or of a copyright notice such as the “©” symbol. The exclusive rights covered by copyright include the right to (1) copy or reproduce the work or portions of the work (including by making electronic copies); (2) prepare “derivative works” based on the original; (3) distribute copies of the work or portions of the work (including by electronic means); and (4) publicly perform or display the work.
Any faculty member, staff member, or student who intends to copy or distribute any material that is not in the public domain and is, therefore, protected by copyright must first receive copyright clearance from the law school’s Copyright Coordinator under the procedures set forth here, unless the copyright is held by that faculty member, staff member, or student. Copyright clearance is required even if the material is believed to be covered by the doctrine of fair use, and even if permission has already been secured from the holder of the copyright by the individual faculty member, staff member, or student. “Copying” and “distributing” include not only making and distributing hard copies, but also making any digital or electronic copies, posting such copies on the internet or the law school’s web page, or distributing copies via e-mail.
Any faculty member, staff member, or student seeking copyright clearance must contact the law school’s Copyright Coordinator. Requests for clearance should be submitted on a form approved by the Copyright Committee. The request should be submitted as far in advance of the use of the material as is reasonably possible (preferably at least one month in advance). The form for the written request may be completed in hard copy or on the law school’s web page, and will require the person submitting the request to (1) identify the copyrighted works in question by author, title, publication date, journal citation (where applicable), publisher (if known), and ISBN/ISSN (if known); (2) describe the nature of any copying and/or distribution (e.g., hard copies, scanning, uploading, etc.); (3) identify the name of the course and number of students to whom the material will be distributed; (4) indicate whether the person submitting the request has ever previously received permission to use the material in question, and attach any documents memorializing such permission; and (5) indicate whether the person submitting the request believes that a fair use privilege applies, and provide a brief justification for such privilege.
Many single copies made purely for research purposes will be covered by the doctrine of fair use, particularly where only a portion of the original work is copied. For such uses, the Copyright Coordinator may provide clearances that may cover certain uses, without requiring specific clearance requests for each individual copy.
If a faculty member disagrees with a decision of the Copyright Coordinator, appeal may be made to the Associate Dean for Faculty & Curriculum.
The Law Library provides copyright and course material/packet support services to assist faculty in seeking copyright permissions for projects and preparing and distributing supplemental readings, course packets, and reserve materials. These services are governed by the Law School Copyright Policy.
During Winter Semester 2020, because of the crisis response nature of the transition to remote teaching, the law school followed the Public Statement of Library Copyright Specialists: Fair Use & Emergency Remote Teaching & Research (to which Peter Midgley, Director of the BYU Copyright Licensing Office, was a signatory). The “emergency” aspect of the March 2020 transition will not apply during future semesters when remote teaching requirements are known in advance. Faculty should plan for 4–6 weeks of processing time for licensing requests.
The BYU CLO has posted the following guidelines for all supplemental course materials:
Links to supplemental resources are always the recommended option, because links do not involve making copies. Linkable resources include authoritative sites on the open web, LexisNexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline and other library-licensed material. The Law Commons is an open-source repository of scholarly legal content, including law review articles from many highly-ranked journals. The Library of Congress provides access to online federal legal resources, as well as links to state primary legal resources. Cornell’s Legal Information Institute is another good portal to legal resources and information. Google Scholar can be also be useful as a tool for locating authoritative legal content, including case opinions.
If the supplemental material to be shared with a class is not available online, we will likely need to obtain copyright permission for that use. Faculty should keep in mind that permission to scan books or articles often requires payment of royalties, which must then be collected from each student enrolled in the class. Copyright permission must be secured before items can be copied and distributed.
Please contact your liaison or Annalee Hickman if you would like help with locating sources for supplemental course materials.
Questions regarding copyright issues and requests for clearance should be directed to Laurie Urquiaga at (801) 422-6657 or urquiagal@law.byu.edu.
Faculty who use copyrighted content as supplemental course material must obtain clearance before asking Library Circulation to scan and print or the web support team to post the material. For tracking purposes, clearance requests should either be submitted using the online form (option 1 below) or emailed to urquiagal@law.byu.edu (email requests should contain all of the information required on the form – multiple requests can be included in a single email). The requestor should plan to submit requests 4–6 weeks before the material will be needed, to allow time for processing.
Alternatively, faculty have the option to obtain clearance themselves, and then provide that permission record to Laurie Urquiaga. (This approach is often the best choice if the copyright owner of the desired content is a known colleague. A fillable PDF form letter is provided for convenience as option 2 below, but a less-formal email is sufficient if it contains adequate detail.)
Copyright Clearance Request Option 1 (on-line form for request to be processed by the Library)
Copyright Clearance Request Option 2 (PDF form letter allowing faculty to request permissions directly)
After the use of copyrighted content has been cleared, requests for help with scanning and printing course materials or packets may be directed to Melanie Coleman. Melanie will forward scanned items to the web team if they are to be posted on Canvas or TWEN.
The Digital Services Librarian is available to help with course-related copyright permission requests. When requesting assistance, please submit the information below as soon as possible. It is preferable to work with authors directly, but that process can take 4-6 weeks. The alternative, processing materials through the Copyright Clearance Center, almost always involves royalties that must be paid by students.
Educational uses are not, per se, Fair Uses. An educational use is most likely to be considered fair when it is one-time, last-minute, does not involve fiction or drama*, and is limited in scope. In those circumstances, obtaining timely permission is recognized to be difficult. But even the Fair Use of copyrighted items should be reported to the Digital Services Librarian for record-keeping.
Please be aware that the Law School never assumes that using teaching materials more than once will be considered fair. And “consumables” (such as worksheets or problem sets) are never eligible for Fair Use.
Fortunately, in the United States many primary legal materials are deemed to belong to the public domain. Federal and State statutes, regulations and case opinions are increasingly available online as well as through LexisNexis and Westlaw. It is also generally reasonable to link to openly-available secondary resources without asking permission or paying royalties. Taken together with available LexisNexis and Westlaw resources, it is often possible to completely avoid making actual copies of most materials needed for preparing and teaching law classes.
Faculty should contact the help desk for assistance in preparing an interactive syllabus with links to required or recommended readings for any Law School class (“deep” links to LexisNexis or Westlaw resources may be included). The form below should be used to request permission processing for paper or electronic copying.
* A separate provision, §110 of the Copyright Act, exempts the use of many audiovisual formats for face-to-face classroom teaching. In interpreting §1201, the U.S. Librarian of Congress has ruled that capturing short excerpts of digital works for use in education can be a permissible circumvention of technical protection measures.
Password-protected digital copies of past law school examinations supplied by faculty members are available to current law students. Access to these exams requires an authorized ID and password.
Please mail any exams you would like to make available to law students to Laurie Urquiaga at urquiagal@law.byu.edu.
Thank-you for submitting this request. You should receive a confirmation email shortly.
Do you need permission to use additional resources?
American Bar Association Affiliated Upcoming Events
(Calendar of ABA section, committee, and other events & conferences; can search by topic, sponsor, date, or location; these are Mainly CLS events)
(Law-related calls for papers, conferences and workshops; a collaborative service from four law schools in Georgia, Ohio, Pittsburg, and Washington)
SSRN Legal Scholarship Network’s Professional Announcements
Guides on where and how to submit manuscripts for publication in law reviews and legal journals have been compiled by LexisNexis and various academic law libraries.
ExpressO — contact Shawn Nevers for help setting up an account
(UC Berkeley electronic submission service for law review articles)
Scholastica — contact Shawn Nevers for help setting up an account
Information for Submitting Articles to Law Reviews & Journals
Writing for and Publishing in Law Reviews (By Mary Whisner & Ann Hemmens, University of Washington Law Library)
Resources for Keeping Up and Staying Current (By Mary Whisner, Stacy Etheredge, & Cheryl Nyberg, University of Washington Law Library)
The Law Library will route newly-received print issues of periodicals to members of the faculty upon request. If you are a BYU law professor and would like to have library material routed to you on an ongoing basis, please contact Teresa Odam, Serials Librarian, at (801) 422-3571 or odamt@law.byu.edu.
The Law Library subscribes to a number of general and legal newspapers. These newspapers are available in the faculty lounge on the fourth floor and in the Rex E. Lee Room. After one week, newspapers are moved to the Reserve Library where they are kept for an additional six months.
The Law Library subscribes to a growing number of electronic databases. Law Library staff is available to provide training on the use of these electronic resources. To request training please contact Shawn Nevers at (801) 422-8784 or neverss@law.byu.edu.
The Law Library subscribes to an online version of the Current Index to Legal Periodicals (CILP). CILP distributes the titles of articles from the table of contents of new law reviews. These title lists are organized by subject, and can be customized to specific preferences (SmartCILP). CILP is distributed weekly in both print and email formats.
CILP is a current awareness tool prepared by the law librarians and staff of the Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library of the University of Washington School of Law. CILP indexes over 500 legal publications, which are organized within 100 relevant subject headings. A complete table of contents is provided for all journals that are indexed, and citations are in Bluebook form.
Both LexisNexis and Westlaw offer electronic clipping services. LexisNexis’ Alert and Westlaw’s Westclip can be customized to run specific searches at various times and in various databases. The results can be accessed online or emailed. For assistance contact your library liaison.
SSRN is an online archive of social science research, available for free on the Internet. The Law Library has a site license that allows faculty to receive email announcements of working papers and articles on many topics from American law schools. The Library can also assist faculty who wish to add their current scholarship to the SSRN repository. For assistance please contact Shawn Nevers at (801) 422-8784 or by email.
A variety of email alert services and moderated listservs are available to help faculty keep abreast of current developments. To request email updates for any of the following please contact your liaison:
Bloomberg Law News including The United States Law Week and BNA Law Reports on a variety of topics – contact your liaison for further information
CCH (Commerce Clearing House): Business & Finance, Health and Human Resources, Tax – contact your liaison for further information
Greenwire Energy and Environment News
Law Faculty Listservs by subject, e.g., CONLAWPROF@listerv.ucla.edu
LSN (Legal Scholarship Network)
LexisNexis new content announcements
U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
Westlaw new content announcements
Westlaw’s Newslink:
The following is a list of contacts for some of the major services provided by Law Library. If the service you need is not listed, please contact reference or your library liaison to request assistance:
| Bindery | Bonnie Geldmacher |
| Bloomberg Passwords | Iantha Haight |
| Book Checkout and Renewal | Circulation Desk or Melanie Coleman |
| Carrels | Dianne Davenport |
| Cataloging | Andrea Howard |
| CILP Service | Bonnie Geldmacher or your library liaison |
| Collection Development | Kory Staheli |
| Copyright Questions & Permission Requests | Laurie Urquiaga |
| Course Reserve | Melanie Coleman |
| Document Digitization Requests | Melanie Coleman |
| Electronic Database Training | Iantha Haight |
| Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery, & Lee Library Requests | Melanie Coleman |
| Gifts and Donations | Bonnie Geldmacher |
| Government Documents | Reference Desk or your library liaison |
| Group Study Rooms | Dianne Davenport |
| Keys | Dianne Davenport |
| Lexis Passwords | Iantha Haight |
| Library Instruction | Annalee Hickman |
| Library Policies | Kory Staheli or Shawn Nevers |
| Lost & Found | Circulation Desk |
| Microforms | Reference Desk or your library liaison |
| Missing Books | Chelsea Frandsen |
| New Material Requests | Kory Staheli or your library liaison |
| Notary Requests | Melanie Coleman or Bonnie Geldmacher |
| Overdues/Fines | Melanie Coleman |
| Preservation/Book Repair | Bonnie Geldmacher |
| Reference Questions | Reference Desk or any Reference Librarian |
| Routing Material | Teresa Odam |
| Security | Dianne Davenport |
| Website Feedback | Laurie Urquiaga |
| Westlaw Passwords | Iantha Haight |
For more information about employees, see the Library Directory.
 |
Name: |
Kory D. Staheli |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Law Library Director | Policy, planning, management services, reference assistance, select publications for purchase, and teach Legal Research courses. | |
Email: |
stahelik@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.9223 |
 |
Name: |
Shawn G. Nevers |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Deputy Law Librarian | Facilitate faculty research and support. Oversee and maintain the library's electronic resources. Provide reference services and assistance to students, faculty and public patrons. Teach legal research. Assist with Westlaw/Lexis Nexis user passwords. | |
Email: |
neverss@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.8784 |
 |
Name: |
Maureen Holman |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Administrative Assistant | Library maintenance, supply orders and inventory, basic support of Law Library Faculty and Staff. Schedule Law Library conference room and the Lee Reading Room. | |
Email: |
holmanm@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.7475 |
 |
Name: |
Melanie Coleman |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Circulation Librarian | Manage the overall process of circulation and supervise the student employees. Process routed and hold materials to law school faculty and ensure law school faculty needs are being met quickly and efficiently. Process InterLibrary Loan and Document Delivery requests to meet the needs of the law school faculty, staff, and students. Processes overdue items, damaged materials, fines and the overall process of requesting materials from libraries. | |
Email: |
colemanm@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.3656 |
 |
Name: |
Dianne Davenport |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Collection and Student Services Librarian | Library public relations, student study carrels, building security and keys. | |
Email: |
davenportd@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.9052 |
 |
Name: |
Chelsea Frandsen |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Collection Maintenance Assistant | Assist with collection organization, shelf management, and weeding of obsolete materials. | |
Email: |
frandsenc@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.7474 |
 |
Name: |
Dennis S. Sears |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Foreign & International Law Librarian | Responsible for the foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) collections. Teach first year legal research course. Provide reference assistance. | |
Email: |
searsd@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.7472 |
 |
Name: |
Iantha Haight |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Electronic Resources & Research Librarian | Legal reference, faculty research support and development, management of the library's electronic collections, and legal research instruction. | |
Email: |
haighti@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.9023 |
 |
Name: |
Annalee Hickman |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Faculty Services Librarian | Oversee faculty services and reference services, teach legal research courses, and provide faculty research assistance. | |
Email: |
HickmanA@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.3596 |
 |
Name: |
Tina Wilder |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Legal Technology Librarian | Oversees legal technology trainings, law student technology certifications, and advanced technology learning platforms. | |
Email: |
wilderc@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.9051 |
 |
Name: |
Bonnie R. Geldmacher |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Acquisitions Librarian / Head of Technical Services | Responsible for supervision and administration of the acquisitions department, the serials department, gifts, looseleaf filing, and for the the bindery. | |
Email: |
geldmacherb@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.3572 |
 |
Name: |
Andrea Howard |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Cataloging Specialist | Catalog newly acquired legal resources; assist in ordering, paying, and receiving legal material for the Law Library. | |
Email: |
howarda@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.1632 |
 |
Name: |
Teresa Odam |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Serials Librarian and Data Project Manager | Responsible for maintaining the serials collection in the Law Library; checks in all serials, routes serial publications to faculty and processes serials for the bindery. Coordinates with other Law Library employees to process Data Project requests from Law School and Law Library faculty. | |
Email: |
odamt@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.3571 |
 |
Name: |
David L. Armond |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Head of Infrastructure and Technology | Lead the Library and Networked Information Department (LNIS) which supports, develops, and implements information technology within the Howard W. Hunter Law Library. Coordinate support with the Law School Computing Support Department for law school enterprise-wide information technology | |
Email: |
armondd@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.4258 |
 |
Name: |
Mark Harris |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
LNIS Manager & Programmer | Oversee technical aspects of the Library's electronic database collection. Maintain electronic resources to ensure they are accessible to faculty, students, and patrons of the Law Library and meet patron and institutional needs. Evaluate, implement and support programs and applications to better support the delivery of electronic information in the academic environment. | |
Email: |
harrism@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.9050 |
 |
Name: |
Laureen C. Urquiaga |
Primary Responsibilities: |
Title: |
Digital Resources Librarian / Law School Copyright Coordinator | Manage the Library's presence on the web; overseeing website development, the digital archive, libguides and other web-related resources. Provide course packet support and monitor law school copyright compliance. | |
Email: |
urquiagal@law.byu.edu | ||
Phone: |
801.422.6657 |
Law faculty have 24-hour access to the collection with their campus ID card.
Law school faculty have special borrowing privileges at the Law Library. Regular library materials are due in May of each year and may be renewed as needed. Journals may be checked out for one month. Non-circulating and reserve materials may also be checked out by special arrangement. No overdue fines are charged to law faculty for regular Law Library material. However, all items are subject to recall by the Lee Library or other patrons. Be aware that any fines accrued due to the late return of a recalled item are non-waivable.
To request material from the collection, faculty members may contact either their liaison or Melanie Coleman at (801) 422-3656 or lawill@law.byu.edu. Faculty may also come to the Circulation Desk on the second floor of the Library for assistance.
The Howard W. Hunter Law Library gratefully accepts gifts of books and other materials. Gifts are accepted with the understanding that the law library retains discretion to utilize or dispose of the items as warranted by library needs. Gifts not added to the library collection will be returned to the donor upon written request at the time of donation. Unless requested otherwise, a letter of acknowledgement will be sent to the donor of each gift. The library does not assign a value to gift materials. All gifts should be directed to Bonnie Geldmacher in 260B JRCB.
Group study rooms are for the exclusive use of BYU law students. Study rooms are available for students to reserve for up to two hour blocks. You can find the online reservation system and study room policies here.
Step by step directions to using the online reservation system are as follows:
Yes, the Howard W. Hunter Law Library is open to members of the public needing to conduct legal research. Members of the public may use law library materials on-site and have access to certain electronic resources through 3 computer terminals on the main floor that are reserved for legal research. Members of the public may also access BYU’s wireless guest network within the law library. BYU Law School alumni and members of the Bar may borrow law library materials that circulate.
Members of the public needing reference assistance should visit the reference desk on the main floor of the library from 8am-9pm M-F and 9am-5pm on Saturdays. Reference employees cannot give legal advice.
During Fall and Winter Semesters, the Law Library is open from 7:00am until 12:00 midnight, Monday through Thursday; 7:00am until 10:00pm on Friday; and 9:00am until 10:00pm on Saturday. The Fall Semester Schedule begins on the first day of 1L Orientation — Wednesday of the third full week in August.
For Spring/Summer, the Law Library is open from 8:00am until 8:00pm, Monday through Friday and 10:00am until 6pm on Saturday. The Spring/Summer Schedule begins on the first day of Spring term classes.
The Law Library is closed on Sunday.
Holidays the Law Library is Open (8:00 am until 5:00pm):
Holidays the Law Library is Closed:
Other Exceptions to the Schedule:
For More Info / Source(s) (Links open in new window.)
The Reference Desk hours for the week are available here. Call the Reference Desk at (801) 422-6658 to inquire about future Reference Desk hours.
More FAQs
Due to COVID-19, the reference desk is closed for the safety of our librarians, student employees, and patrons. However, many virtual reference options are available to both the BYU Law community and other BYU and community patrons to receive reference services.
Patrons may use the Contact Us form to submit reference questions. We will attempt to answer reference questions within two business days. We remind you that we cannot offer legal advice. We can provide answers to brief, factual research questions
To receive reference services over the phone, call 801-422-6658, and you will be transferred to a law student reference assistant or a reference librarian if one is available. The hours that reference services generally are available via the phone are listed here. It is not recommended that you leave a voicemail as it is not checked regularly. Rather, call back during the times reference services over the phone are available or email us your reference question at reference@law.byu.edu.
Patrons may chat with a reference
Law students may access library resources during regular hours. Law students also have 24-hour access to the J. Reuben Clark Building with their campus ID card, and may enter the library after the outer building doors are locked at 10pm. ID card access is governed by the Law School Security Policy.
The J. Reuben Clark Law School Building (JRCB) is open to the general public during normal operating hours. The Law School provides after-hours access to law faculty, staff, and students as described by this policy. The University has installed a swipe card security system that is designed to restrict access for the general public after normal operating hours* and provide managed access to authorized individuals after-hours.
The normal operating hours of the JRCB are defined as:
Fall and Winter Semester
Monday through Saturday 5:55 am until 10:00 pm.*
Sunday 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 pm.
Spring and Summer Term
Monday through Saturday 5:55 am until 8:00 pm.*
Sunday 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 pm.
Holidays and other restrictions
Monday through Saturday 8:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Sunday 8:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Or as posted.
* The Law Library is not open to the public beyond the JRCB normal operating hours. However, library patrons who enter the Law Library before the building closes may remain in the Law Library until library closing. After the JRCB building doors are locked, Law Library patrons who are not authorized for swipe card access to the building cannot re-enter the building or Law Library until the building next opens, even though the library may not yet have closed.
After-hours access is managed by the C-cure security system. Building access is defined by predetermined assigned roles. Faculty and staff typically have 24/7 access to virtually all areas of the building. Law students have access to the co-curricular offices, the student commons (211, 213, 215), vending machine area (224), and other open areas (excluding administrative areas) of the law school after hours. There is no access to the Library once the Library has closed. The third floor doors exiting the library to the law school are secured at 8:00 pm Monday through Friday and are closed on Saturday and Sunday. Exiting through these doors after closing hours is a violation of the security agreement and may result in fines.
To receive after hours privileges for the law building, law students must agree to the terms of the JRCB / HWHLL Security System Policies. New Faculty, Staff, and Students must present their BYU ID card to Dianne Davenport to be assigned the appropriate privilege.
Anyone found inside the building after the normal operating hours should be willing and able to provide his or her BYU ID card upon request or exit the building immediately. Any staff member who feels uncomfortable requesting such credentials from a person within the building is encouraged to contact University Police who can appropriately evaluate the situation. For Police verification purposes, the C-cure system can be used to verify that an individual is authorized to access the building after-hours.
Because full-time and part-time custodial staff members perform most of their labors after the outside doors have been locked and before the public is let in to the building in the morning, Law Students should be cooperative with requests to vacate areas during normal cleaning operations.
Failure to abide by this policy may lead to a loss of after-hours access as well as Law School and University disciplinary action.
(Policy Date: September 2016)
As a courtesy, the Law Library assigns study carrels to regularly admitted law students in good standing. First-year law students are randomly assigned carrels in the “1L area” at the beginning of the school year. Second- and third-year students are able to select their carrels based on a randomly-generated lottery order. All law students are expected to abide by the terms of the “Carrel Occupancy Agreement.” (pdf version), including the Carrel Use Policy. (Repeated failure to abide by the terms of the Agreement may result in the loss of carrel privileges. It may also result in the denial of carrel privileges in future years.)Each carrel has locking cabinets and file drawers and is provided with power and data outlets. Carrel problems should be reported online or to the Circulation Desk.
Thank-you for letting us know of any problems you are having with your carrel. Please use this form to report non-urgent problems. For urgent concerns, such as electrical malfunctions or water leaks, please contact the circulation desk immediately (801-422-3593).
I, _____________________________________, agree and understand that my occupancy of study carrel #________ is conditioned upon compliance with the terms stated below, and may be terminated at any time, with or without cause. I also agree that I will be financially liable for any damage to the carrel resulting from my occupation of it, and acknowledge that failure to pay for damages may affect the receipt of my law school diploma and/or certification to take the bar exam.
As a condition of carrel occupancy, I promise to conduct myself in a manner that is in harmony with the primary purposes of a library and bolsters an environment conducive to learning and study. By signing this agreement, I acknowledge that I must abide by the following rules:
| §1 | I understand that I am responsible for maintaining the carrel in a clean and orderly condition, suitable for a professional work environment. (A vacuum and cleaning supplies are available at the Circulation Desk.) I agree to thoroughly clean the carrel before checking out at the end of my occupancy. |
| ______ | |
| §2 | I agree to immediately report any existing damage to the carrel and its surroundings by email to the davenportd@law.byu.edu. I also agree to report any damage or deterioration due to normal wear and tear as soon as it becomes apparent. I understand that all carrels are inspected following check-out, and that I will be liable for any damage outside of normal use. |
| ______ | |
| §3 | I understand that all library materials held at a carrel must be properly checked out, whether they are kept within the locked cabinets or not. I understand that any unauthorized library materials will be returned to the shelves and a penalty will be assessed for each item. (See the Carrel Use Policy for details. This policy is on the back of the printed form.) |
| ______ | |
| §4 | I understand that an approved Library chair is provided for each carrel, and that no other furnishings are permitted. (See “Furnishings” in the Carrel Use Policy.) If I require special accommodations for ADA or medical reasons, I will seek prior approval in writing from the Law School’s Dean of Students. |
| ______ | |
| §5 | I agree to keep all books, decorations, personal belongings and food consumption within the confines of the carrel assigned to me. I understand that any objects placed on top of the cabinets, or around or underneath the carrel assigned to me may be removed and taken to Circulation. |
| ______ | |
| §6 | I agree that the library staff has the right to inspect all carrels (including the locked portion) at any time and without notice. I acknowledge that I need not be present for an inspection to occur. |
| ______ | |
| § 7 | I will treat my fellow students, library and law school employees, faculty, and others with respect; and I will cooperate in whatever manner requested to maintain a professional working environment in the carrel areas. |
| ______ | |
| § 8 | I understand that penalties may be imposed for violations of this Agreement, which includes the Carrel Use Policy. I understand that ongoing disregard of these policies may result in the loss of carrel privileges for the duration of the current academic year, or denial of privileges for future years. |
| ______ |
By signing this form, I accept all of the terms of this Agreement, including the Carrel Use Policy.
Signed: ___________________________________ Date: _________
Students at the J. Reuben Clark Law School are expected to comply with all of the requirements of the BYU Honor Code, the Dress and Grooming Standards, and the standards of conduct established for the legal profession. These include “maintain[ing] the highest standards of honor, integrity, morality, and consideration of others in personal behavior … ‘at all times, in all things and in all places’.” To foster a professional atmosphere, demonstrate respect for others, and protect the Law School’s large financial investment in providing each student with a personal space conducive to study, BYU law students are expected to comply with the following rules:
TEMPORARY NOTICE:
| Unauthorized use of library materials (keeping books or other items at a carrel without first checking them out): |
Lost Key/Key not returned at End-of-Occupancy: | $50 | |
| Reserve Room Resources | $25/item | End-of-Occupancy Cleaning Charge: (applies only if the carrel is left in disarray) |
$25 |
| Reference Resources | $10/item | Missing/Damaged Ethernet Cable charge: | $5 |
| General Collection Items | $1/item | Any personal items left at a carrel after the check-out deadline will be sent to the BYU Lost & Found. | |
1st Time: Warning
2nd Time: Meet with a Library Administrator
Repeated Violations may result in the loss of carrel privileges.
There are 13 study rooms in the Law Library, designated exclusively for Law School use. The rooms may be reserved for two consecutive hours by groups of two or more law students (due to COVID-19 restrictions, until further notice) a maximum of two law students. Study groups may sign up for only two 2-hour blocks in a given room each day. Groups must occupy a room within 15 minutes of their scheduled reservation, or lose their reservation for that hour. Unoccupied study rooms are available on a first-come-first-served basis to any group of two or more law students. No food or drink is allowed in any study room.
For tips on study groups (including best practices, study group activities, and study group technology tools), see the Student Groups for Law Students research guide.
For personal study, consider instead the Quiet Study Room on the second floor.
A Quiet Reading Room in the northeast corner of the main floor of the library is available for law student study during all hours the library is open. This room, which was specifically designed to create a place for quiet study, is restricted to law students and is accessible only with a law student ID card. The room will accommodate up to fifty students and includes a mix of soft seating as well as tables and carrels.
The Rex E. Lee Room (393 JRCB) has popular magazines and newspapers from several cities around the United States. There is a growing collection of popular novels in the room that law students may choose from to read and then return to the shelf. Many students donate their paperbacks to the collection when they have finished reading them.
The Rex E. Lee Room is a great place to take a break, relax, and socialize with friends and family members. There is a “kiddie” corner where children can read and play. In addition to the items stored in the Rex E. Lee Room, games and puzzles for all ages can be checked out at the Circulation Desk.
The Circulation Desk receives lost & found items from the J. Reuben Clark Building. These items are collected by the BYU Lost & Found Department once or twice a week. Be aware that it often takes a few days for items to be turned in. In addition, some “finders” of lost items take them directly to the campus lost & found.
Individuals who who have lost items in the JRCB are encouraged to check several times with the Circulation staff to see if the items have been turned in, and also with the BYU Lost & Found Department (1055 WSC, (801) 422-3024).
Note: Room 388 has been designated as a study room. This room does not have a speaker installed. With the door closed, the occupants may not hear library or building announcements.
For questions about the study room policy or to report monopolization of a study room, contact the SBA by sending a message to “sbaweb -at- law.byu.edu.”
For concerns about how the program is functioning, please contact Dianne Davenport through email.
| Circulation: | 801-422-3593 |
| Reference: | 801-422-6658 |
Locked Reserve: Locked reserve consists of course reserve, audio/visual reserve, software reserve, professor files, and hard-copy sample exams. All of these items are located behind the Circulation Desk and may only be borrowed for a limited time. Course reserve and professor files may be borrowed for 2 hours at a time. Audio/visual and software reserve items circulate for 24 hours.
Course Reserve: Course reserve consists of texts and supplementary materials for courses presently being taught. It is located behind the Circulation Desk. There is a binder at the Circulation Desk that lists the title and call number of all items in course reserve, indexed by course and professor name. Items in this collection may be checked out for 2 hours, and substantial fines will accrue for late returns.
Electronic Reserve: Electronic reserve consists of selected reading materials which are made available online in various formats. The Library maintains access to sample exams and the Perspectives on Law Collection. Reading lists for specific courses are most often available through individual class pages or through TWEN.
Reserve Library: The Reserve Library is located on the second floor, in room 280 JRCB (near Circulation). The Reserve Library consists of high-use monographs (texts, outlines, restatements, etc.), current legal newspapers, 3 week’s worth of popular reading newspapers, 1 year’s worth of popular reading magazines, bulletins from other law schools, unbound/current legal periodicals, along with most of the Utah Law Collection — including copies of the state code, and the codes for various Utah cities. The Biblical Law and Benson Collections are also located in the Reserve Library.
Reference librarians are available to help direct patrons to information that may answer their questions or aid in their research. Be advised that library policy prohibits reference librarians from doing research for patrons or answering specific legal questions; however, librarians can direct patrons to relevant sources and give instruction on their use. The full-time reference librarians are also responsible for teaching and conducting the legal research classes offered at the law school.
The Reference Desk is located on the main floor of the Library but is currently closed due to COVID-19. Reference services are being offered virtually. Reference services are provided by both full-time librarians and part-time law student reference assistants. For reference hours, see here.
Reference librarians are also available for additional assistance, like research consultations, by appointment and may be contacted by telephone at (801) 422-6658 or by email at reference@law.byu.edu.
Digital copies of past law school examinations supplied by faculty members are listed below. Access to these exams requires an authorized ID and password.
Faculty participation in the sample exam bank is voluntary. Ask your professor to contact Laurie Urquiaga if he or she would like to contribute recent past exams to the collection.
The Law Library purchases a number of study aids to assist law student with exam preparation. Current editions of study aids are generally shelved in the Reserve Library and may be checked out for 2 hours (subject to the reserve circulation policy). Older editions are shelved in the main collection and can be checked out for the normal loan period. For specific titles, check the library catalog.
Additionally, check out this research guide on Study Aids for Law Students, which gives more details about the different types of study aids and how to access some of them electronically.
The T.C. Williams Legal Essay Contest Catalog is the Web’s largest collection of writing competitions for law students. Essay contests provide students with opportunities to display the exceptional legal research, analysis, and composition skills developed and honed in law school.
Law students with a current BYU Student ID may borrow materials from the library:
Law students may check out up to 50 items at one time. Items may be renewed either in person or by telephone at (801) 422-3593. Each item may be renewed up to two times if the item is not on hold. Once items are more than five days overdue the law student is blocked from checking out any more items until the matter has been cleared up.
All books are subject to hold and recall. A patron is guaranteed a minimum of two weeks use per book before a recall will be allowed. When a book is recalled, the borrowing patron will be notified via e-mail.
If any material is lost, the patron will be assessed the cost of replacing the item and a $15.00 processing fee. An item is considered lost if it is not returned within 28 days of the due date.
| General Collection Items | 90 days |
| Periodicals | 21 days |
| Audio cassettes, videos & software | 24 hours |
| Course Reserve & Professor Files | 2 hours |
| Non-circulating materials (e.g. Reference, Reserve) | None |
There is no grace period on overdue items.
| General Collection Items | $1.00 per day per item / $20 maximum per item |
| Periodicals | $1.00 per day per item |
| Audio cassettes, videos & software | $1.00 per day per item |
| Course Reserve & Professor Files | $1.20 per first minute per item, then 10¢ per additional minute per item / $20 maximum per item |
Because of the teaching and research needs of an academic law library, much of the material must remain on site and does not circulate. The following types of materials cannot be checked out: administrative regulations, codes, dictionaries, digests, encyclopedias, materials in the second floor looseleaf collection, materials in the Reserve Room, microforms, periodicals, rare books, reference books, reporters, restatements, session laws, and Shepard’s citators.
Abuse of any of these policies or of the library personnel may result in the loss of library privileges. Any appeals of fines or other policies should be directed to the Circulation Librarian.
Because law students and faculty enjoy extended loan periods, the Law Library reserves the right to recall circulating materials when necessary. If an item is required for a class, it may be subject to immediate recall. A rush recall requires the borrowing patron to return the book within 24 hours of notification.
A regular recall may be placed on any item that has been out of the Library for more than two weeks. The first patron is then given 7 days from notification to return the item. Recalls DO change the original due date of the item. Recall notifications are made by telephone and/or email (both if possible). The Library considers notice to have been given on the date the message was emailed or left on an answering machine. Overdue fines for recalled materials are double the normal rate ($2/day up to $20.00). Library policy prohibits forgiving overdue recall fines.
Law students should be advised that many law faculty like to be informed about any research within the law school that might be related to their own interests. In circumstances where both parties agree, students desiring access to material borrowed by a law professor may be directed to consult directly with the professor instead of recalling the specific item. This is an entirely voluntary option, and the student retains the right to request a recall.
Interlibrary Loan is a FREE service that the Law Library arranges through agreements with other libraries to provide access to materials that we may not have in our own collection for academic use.
ILL pulls materials first from the Law Library. If the material cannot be found here, then the search extends to the Lee Library and to other libraries after. It is rare for materials not to be available through this process.
Set up an appointment with Melanie, who is the Circulation Librarian and ILL Specialist; she will be able to help you navigate through the ILL process and help you obtain the materials you need.
To set up your account, go to illiad.lib.byu.edu/ILLiad/ and sign in using your net ID and password, and then fill out your account information.
You may also set up an appointment with Melanie and she will be able to assist you in creating your account.
In most cases we are able to obtain the items you need, but occasionally some items cannot be sent physically. The ILL specialist will work with you to reach a solution. There are many other specific items that can be scanned and obtained rather than entire publications, textbooks, or print including:
Melanie Coleman—Circulation Librarian and ILL Specialist
Email: colemanm@law.byu.edu
Phone: 801-422-3656
Feel free to set up an appointment with Melanie if you have any questions about ILL.
To recommend a book purchase, please email suggestions to Kory Staheli, Law Library Director: stahelik@law.byu.edu.
If the catalog indicates that an item the Library should have has not been checked out, but it is not on shelf, patrons can email Chelsea Frandsen. If the item is found, the patron will be notified by email. Missing books searches may take up to two weeks. Students may find the item quicker by checking the maroon “reshelving” shelves near where the item is usually shelved, by checking near the copy machines, and by checking on the study tables. After a student has verified that the item really is missing, it can be requested through ILL without penalty.
Faxing services are available for law students at the Circulation Desk for a minimal fee. Law students can both send and receive faxes. The Law Library fax number is (801) 422-0404. Students will be notified by email if a fax arrives for them.
| Sending (Cover pages are excluded; there is a one page minimum fee) | |
| Local or toll-free | $.25/page |
| Long Distance | $.50/page |
| International | $1.00/page |
| Receiving ( cover pages are included) | $.10/page |
During Fall and Winter Semesters, the Law Library is open from 7:00am until 12:00 midnight, Monday through Thursday; 7:00am until 10:00pm on Friday; and 9:00am until 10:00pm on Saturday. The Fall Semester Schedule will begin on the first day of 1L Orientation — Wednesday of the third full week in August.
During the Spring/Summer Terms, the Law Library will be open from 8:00am until 8:00pm, Monday through Saturday.
The Law Library is closed on Sunday.
|
Holidays the Law Library is Open
|
Holidays the Law Library is Closed:
|
Upcoming Exceptions to the Schedule:
Brigham Young University Academic Calendar.
The Howard W. Hunter Law Library is open to members of the public to engage in activities associated with the use of a law library, including law-related research, reading, studying, and writing. Because the primary mission of the Law Library is to serve members of the BYU Law School community, public patrons must be conscientious of law students and faculty and carefully adhere to the policies outlined below.
Members of the public may research on the 2nd (main) floor of the law library. The 1st and 3rd floors are designated as student study areas. Public patrons are permitted to select books on the 1st and 3rd floors, but should only remain on these floors for short periods of time while they use the collection.
Study rooms are for law student use only.
Three computers near the reference desk are designated for use by the public for legal research purposes.
The Law Library provides borrowing privileges to BYU Law School alumni and members of the Utah State Bar. Borrowing privileges are also available for students and faculty of Utah universities and colleges whose libraries are members of the Utah Academic Library Consortium. Other public patrons may use law library materials within the Law Library, but will not be given borrowing privileges.
Noise should be kept to a minimum in the law library. Talking loudly or making noise that disturbs other library patrons is prohibited. Conversations should be conducted in quiet tones and in locations that do not disturb others. Cellular phones should be silenced within the library (alternative ring modes such as vibrate are permitted), and all telephone conversations should be conducted outside the library.
Food and drink is not permitted on the ground floor of the library.
Library patrons may not engage in behavior which results in health and safety risks, property damage, or nuisance to other library users and library staff. The following are examples of behaviors not permitted in the library.
Library staff will provide a warning to users whose behavior violates library policy.* If the violator fails to heed the warning and continues violating library policy, library staff will contact University Police to remove the patron from the building. Patrons required to leave the library for policy violations may not be permitted to return to the law library.
*Serious threats to health and safety of library patrons or staff will be reported immediately to University Police without warning.
View the BYU Law School location in a larger map (get directions from Google maps).
The J. Reuben Clark Building (JRCB) is located on the east side of the BYU Campus, near the Wilkinson Student Center, between Campus Drive and 900 East, and south of Heritage Drive. Visitor parking is available just south of the JRCB. The Law Library occupies the north wing of the building.
Library Maps
First Floor (basement)
Second Floor (main)
Third Floor
For prospective law school applicants, law school tours (which include a tour of the law library) may be scheduled through the Law School Admissions Department. Please visit their website for more information.
Law library tours for other reasons may be scheduled by contacting the Law Library Administrative Assistant at (801) 422-7475.
Reference librarians are available to help direct patrons to information that may answer their questions or aid in their research. Be advised that library policy prohibits reference librarians from doing research for patrons or answering specific legal questions; however, librarians can direct patrons to relevant sources and give instruction on their use. The full-time reference librarians are also responsible for teaching and conducting the legal research classes offered at the law school.
The Reference Desk is located on the main floor of the Library but is currently closed due to COVID-19. Reference services are being offered virtually. Reference services are provided by both full-time librarians and part-time law student reference assistants. For reference hours, see here.
Reference librarians are also available for additional assistance by appointment and may be contacted by telephone at (801) 422-6658 or email.
All patrons who have a BYU ID card may borrow Law Library materials. Students should use their university identification card. Law school alumni and local attorneys may check materials out from the Law Library using their bar membership card. In general, members of the bar may borrow items for three weeks. Members of the general public may not borrow materials, but are welcome to use Law Library resources while on the premises. We provide scanners and printers for patron use (USB flash drives may be used to save scanned pages).
The Circulation Desk can provide information about specific check-out periods and policies for various types of materials: (801) 422-3593.
The Howard W. Hunter Law Library gratefully accepts gifts of books and other materials. Gifts are accepted with the understanding that the law library retains discretion to utilize or dispose of the items as warranted by library needs. Gifts not added to the library collection will be returned to the donor upon written request at the time of donation. Unless requested otherwise, a letter of acknowledgement will be sent to the donor of each gift. The library does not assign a value to gift materials. All gifts should be directed to Bonnie Geldmacher in 260B JRCB.
The Circulation Desk receives lost & found items from throughout the J. Reuben Clark Building. These items are collected by the BYU Lost & Found Department once or twice a week. Be aware that it often takes a few days for items to be turned in. In addition, some “finders” of lost items take them directly to the campus lost & found.
Individuals who who have lost items in the JRCB are encouraged to check several times with the Circulation staff to see if the items have been turned in, and also with the BYU Lost & Found Department (1055 WSC, (801) 422-3024).
Legal research lectures may be arranged for undergraduate classes. These lectures are particularly helpful for students asked to conduct research in the law library. Librarians can adapt their lectures to the subject matter of the course. To schedule a lecture, contact Dennis Sears: (801) 422-7472.
Law Library tours for teaching support may be scheduled through Annalee Hickman: (801) 422-3596 or HickmanA@law.byu.edu.
The Utah State Bar has pre-authorized a limited number of recordings for self-study CLE credit. A fee is not charged to the attorney. The recordings approved for credit in 2020 are:
| Title | Media Type | Call Number | CLE Credits | # of Copies | Checkout Period |
| 1L Mandatory Civility Meeting (2014) | DVD | KF 306 .C57 2014 | 1 | 5 | 24 Hours |
| Administrative Law (Gilbert) (2016) | CD | KF 5402 .B67 2016 | 5 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Administrative Law (Gilbert) (2008) | CD | KF 5402 .B67 2008 | 4 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Antitrust (Gilbert) (2006) | CD | KF 1649 .L475 2006 | 6 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Bankruptcy Law (Sum+Substance) (2012) | CD | KF 1524.85 .E66 2012 | 7 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Bankruptcy Law (Sum+Substance) (2007) | CD | KF 1524.85 .E66 2007 | 6 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Civil Procedure (Sum+Substance) (2016) | CD | KF 8841 .M6 2016 | 10 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Civil Procedure (Sum+Substance) (2010) | CD | KF 8841 .M6 2010 | 11 | 2 | 2 Weeks |
| Constitutional Law (Sum+Substance) (2016) | CD | KF 4550 .Z9 .C43 2016 | 14 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Constitutional Law (Sum+Substance) (2013) | CD | KF 4550 .Z9 .C43 2013 | 13 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Contracts (Sum+Substance) (2018) | CD | KF 801 .Z9 .W42 2018 | 16 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Contracts (Sum+Substance) (2007) | CD | KF 801 .Z9 .W42 2007 | 5 | 3 | 2 Weeks |
| Corporations (Sum+Substance) (2014) | CD | KF 1384 .C69 2014 | 8 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Corporations (Sum+Substance) (2008) | CD | KF 1384 .C69 2008 | 8 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Criminal Law (Sum+Substance) (2018) | CD | KF 9219.85 .D74 2018 | 8 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Criminal Law (Sum+Substance) (2014) | CD | KF 9219.85 .D74 2014 | 8 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Criminal Procedure (Sum+Substance) (2018) | CD | KF 9619.85 .D74 2018 | 8 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Criminal Procedure (Sum+Substance) (2013) | CD | KF 9619.85 .D74 2013 | 8 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Evidence (Sum+Substance) (2016) | CD | KF 8935 .Z9 .G66 2016 | 9 | 2 | 24 Hours |
| Evidence (Sum+Substance) (2008) | CD | KF 8935 .Z9 .G66 2008 | 8 | 2 | 2 Weeks |
| Family Law (Sum+Substance) (2018) | CD | KF 505 .Z9 .P74 2018 | 4 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Federal Income Tax (Sum+Substance) (2014) | CD | KF 6369.3 D67 2014 | 3 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Federal Income Tax (Sum+Substance) (2004) | CD | KF 6369.3 D67 2004 | 5 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Immigration Law (Gilbert) (2008) | CD | KF 4819.3 .S22 2008 | 4 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| International Law (Sum+Substance) (2015) | CD | KZ 1242 .B87 2015 | 6 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| International Law (Sum+Substance) (2006) | CD | KZ 1242 .B87 2006 | 7 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Legal Research (Sum+Substance) (2016) | CD | KF 240 .B467 2016 | 3 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Legal Research (Sum+Substance) (2001) | CD | KF 240 .B467 2001 | 3 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Professional Responsibility (Gilbert) (2010) | CD | KF 306 .C44 2010 | 3 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Property (Sum+Substance) (2014) | CD | KF 570 .Z9 .J83 2014 | 12 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Property (Sum+Substance) (2000) | CD | KF 570 .Z9 .J83 2000 | 7 | 3 | 2 Weeks |
| Securities Regulation (Sum+Substance) (2015) | CD | KF 1439 .C685 2015 | 8 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Securities Regulation (Sum+Substance) (2006) | CD | KF 1439 .C685 2006 | 6 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Torts (Sum+Substance) (2019) | CD | KF 1250 .Z9 .F56 2019 | 11 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Torts (Sum+Substance) (2010) | CD | KF 1250 .Z9 .F56 2010 | 8 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Wills and Trusts (Sum+Substance) (2016) | CD | KF 755 .B48 2016 | 10 | 1 | 24 Hours |
| Wills and Trusts (Sum+Substance) (2009) | CD | KF 755 .B48 2009 | 9 | 1 | 2 Weeks |
* 1L Mandatory Civility Meeting (2014) is approved for 1.0 CLE credit, including 1.0 Professionalism & Civility credit.
** Professional Responsibility (Gilbert) (2010) is approved for 3.0 CLE credits, including 3.0 Ethics credits.
All of the CLE materials must be picked up in person from the law library circulation desk at BYU and may be borrowed for a 24-hour loan period. Please call ahead to determine availability (801-422-3593).
You also have the option to listen to or watch these materials at the law library. To listen or watch in the library, when you pick up your CLE materials from the Circulation Desk, you may also check out headphones and an external drive (which is compatible with DVDs and CDs), which will allow you to watch or listen to the CLE materials on any computer that has a USB port and applications for CD listening and DVD watching. An employee at the Reference Desk can get you set up on one of the law library computers to watch or listen to CLE materials.
After you have listened to the recording, please contact Annalee Hickman (HickmanA@law.byu.edu) to have your credit posted. When contacting her, you must include the following information: (1) your name, (2) your Utah bar number, (3) the name of the recording, (4) how many hours of the recording you listened to, and (5) the date(s) that you listened to the recording.
The Law Library provides borrowing privileges to law school alumni and members of the Utah Bar at no charge. Attorneys who wish to arrange for circulation privileges at the Harold B. Lee Library as well should contact the Circulation Desk at (801) 422-3593 for instructions.
BYU Law Library provides access to the LexisNexis Digital Library through its Attorney Access program to the following individuals:
The LexisNexis Digital Library contains ebook versions of the following Utah legal titles:
Ebook versions of well-regarded legal treatises including Nimmer on Copyright, Collier on Bankruptcy, and Business Organizations with Tax Planning are also available in the Digital Library. View the complete list of titles.
Interested patrons may apply for Attorney Access by filling out the form below and agreeing to comply with the terms and conditions of this policy. Processing the form and establishing access may take up to two weeks. Upon enrollment in the program, participation in Attorney Access lasts for one year provided the patron complies with the terms of use.
Participants in Attorney Access may check out up to two ebooks in the LexisNexis Digital Library at one time. The check-out period is seven days and may be renewed if the title has not been requested by another patron. BYU Law Library reserves the right to recall an ebook and/or terminate the patron’s check-out early and without notice. BYU Law Library cannot guarantee access to titles in the LexisNexis Digital Library. BYU Law Library reserves the right to terminate the Attorney Access program or the patron’s participation in the program at any time and for any reason. Patrons agree with to comply with all applicable copyright laws and the terms of use of the LexisNexis Digital Library.
Questions? Email Iantha Haight at haighti@law.byu.edu.
Open the Google Form
Law Firms and Attorneys may request PDF scanned copies of library material by contacting the InterLibrary Loan Department at 801.422.3656 or lawill@law.byu.edu. Items from electronic databases may not be loaned or distributed. However, in-person access for many databases is available on site.
The Howard W. Hunter Law Library provides a scan and send service for law firms in the State of Utah free of charge. The Library will also lend print materials free of charge. However, the law firm must provide a UPS or FedEx account number to cover shipping costs.
The Howard W. Hunter Law Library provides a scan and send service for out-of-state law firms for a fee of $5.00 for up to 50 pages. Print materials will only be lent if a request is submitted through Illiad and an ILL number is generated.
The Law Library subscribes to dozens of online legal research tools. These resources are available off-campus only to authenticated law school users. However, most subscription resources are available within the library for public use. Contact the Reference Desk for further information or for assistance with using these databases.
Westlaw Patron Access is a version of Westlaw open to the public. It is available on two of the three computers that are currently open to the public near the Reference Desk. Westlaw Patron Access allows access to all federal and state cases and statutes, KeyCite, ALR, and AmJur (plus many different parts of the AmJur series, like Forms and Causes of Action).
Use of the Patron Access terminal is limited to 30 minutes when someone else is waiting.
Because of COVID-19, the BYU Law Library is currently not open to public patrons. Westlaw is providing a means whereby the public can access Westlaw (with some time limitations). For information on how to do that, see this law library blog post.
There is a color printer in the law school for student and community use. This printer is a BYU Pharos printer (named BYU Public Color), and it works like the other BYU Pharos printers across campus. It is in the printing room, which is located on the 3rd floor of the law library, by the stairwell. (The printing room has a Lexis printer, the Reference Co-Op printer, and a BYU Pharos printing release station, with a BYU Public Color printer and a BYU Public B&W printer.)
To print in color from your computer at the law school, you must download the BYU Pharos Printer drive.
To print to the BYU Public Color printer (or the BYU Public B&W printer):
Please note:
As an alternative to photocopiers, the Law Library provides document scanners, which allow the option of saving a document as a PDF and/or printing the scanned material to paper.
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The person using the equipment is liable for any infringement.
Please note that scanning all or even a substantial portion of a book in order to avoid purchasing a copy is not a Fair Use (see § 107(4)).
Patrons who are not BYU students may use the Pharos system with a Courtesy Card. Courtesy Cards may be purchased at the Circulation Desk. These reusable cards cost $1.00, and come pre-loaded with a $.50 balance.
Scanned PDFs may be saved to USB flash drives or emailed using web-based accounts such as Yahoo or Gmail. The Law Library currently has one Bookeye open-face scanner; four flatbed book scanners (2 near the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor, 1 in the Reserve Library, and 1 on the 3rd floor); and two multi-page feed scanners (1 near the Pharos printer on the 2nd floor, and another on the 3rd floor). Employees at the Circulation and Reference Desks are trained and ready to assist anyone who needs help with scanning.
There are also several ways additional funds can be added to Courtesy Cards. Circulation clerks can make deposits with cash or checks. Credit card deposits can be completed by using this BYU webpage and following the instructions.
Copies of documents on microform can be made on a reader/printer in the Microform area (first floor). Copies from microforms are $.20 per page and are paid for at the Circulation Desk. If any of the copiers are out of paper, please notify the clerk at the Circulation Desk.
Law Library Director
Kory D. Staheli
277B JRCB | 801.422.9223
Deputy Law Librarian
Shawn G. Nevers
277C JRCB | 801.422.8784
Administrative Assistant
Maureen Holman
277 JRCB | 801.422.7475
Circulation Librarian
Melanie Coleman
294 JRCB | 801.422.3656
Collection and Student Services Librarian
Dianne Davenport
256B JRCB | 801.422.9052
Collection Maintenance Assistant
Chelsea Frandsen
260 JRCB | 801.422.7474
Foreign & International Law Librarian
Dennis S. Sears
274C JRCB | 801.422.7472
Electronic Resources & Research Librarian
Iantha Haight
277A JRCB | 801.422.9023
Faculty Services Librarian
Annalee Hickman
274E JRCB | 801.422.3596
Legal Technology Librarian
Tina Wilder
274G JRCB | 801.422.9051
Acquisitions Librarian / Head of Technical Services
Bonnie R. Geldmacher
260B JRCB | 801.422.3572
Cataloging Specialist
Andrea Howard
260A JRCB | 801.422.1632
Serials Librarian and Data Project Manager
Teresa Odam
260C JRCB | 801.422.3571
Head of Infrastructure and Technology
David L. Armond
396 JRCB | 801.422.4258
LNIS Manager & Programmer
Mark Harris
459K JRCB | 801.422.9050
Digital Resources Librarian / Law School Copyright Coordinator
Laureen C. Urquiaga
457 JRCB | 801.422.6657
Thank-you for submitting your request/comment.
The appropriate library department should respond to you within a couple of days. Feel free to contact hunterlawlibrary@law.byu.edu if you don’t hear back after 3 working days.
BYU Law Faculty/Students – please use the priority reference form for quick research help.
