Reference librarians and reference assistants are available to help direct patrons to information and resources that may answer their questions or aid in their research. Be advised that library policy prohibits reference librarians and reference assistants from doing research for patrons or answering specific legal questions; however, they 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 physical Reference Desk is located on the main floor of the Library, and reference services are also offered virtually. Reference services are provided by both full-time librarians and part-time law student reference assistants. For reference hours, see here. For methods to contact the reference employees, 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.

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 Thursday; 8:00am to 6:00pm on Friday; and 9:00am to 6:00pm on Saturday.

The Law Library is closed on Sunday.

---

Holidays the Law Library is Open (9:00am until 5:00pm): Labor Day Martin Luther King Day Presidents’ Day

Holidays the Law Library is Closed: Thanksgiving Day Christmas Eve (or date observed) Christmas Day (or date observed) New Year’s Eve (or date observed) New Year’s Day (or date observed) Memorial Day Independence Day (or date observed) June 19th | Juneteenth July 24th | Pioneer Day (or date observed)

---

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.

After-Hours Access

Law Faculty, Staff, and Students

To access the library between 6 pm and closing, approved patrons will need to swipe their ID card on the reader located by the second floor – east entrance of the Law Library. Approved patrons who forget to bring their ID card and need assistance accessing the library after 6 pm, please contact the circulation desk at 801-422-3593. For questions regarding ID card access or hours, please contact Melanie Chao at chaom@law.byu.edu or 801-422-9052.

BYU Patrons

Current BYU students, faculty, administrators, or staff can use the button below to request after-hours access. Upon approval, your BYU ID card will be activated to allow swipe card access after 6 p.m. Please allow 24 hours for your request to be processed and swipe card access activated.

Law Community Patrons

Eligible patrons include BYU Law School graduates, members of the Utah Bar, and UALC members. Use the button below to request after-hours access. Please allow one business day for a decision and to receive further information about after-hours access.

Public Patrons

This category encompasses all patrons that are not eligible for a Law Community account and are not currently a BYU student/employee. Use the button below to request after-hours access. Please specify why you need after-hours access and specify why you are unable to utilize the library before 6 p.m. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please allow 2 business days for a decision and to receive further information about after-hours access.

After-hours drop-in access is not permitted for Public Patrons.

Library Facilities & Policies

Public Research Areas

Members of the public may research on the 2^nd (main) floor of the law library. The 1^st and 3^rd floors are designated as student study areas. Public patrons are permitted to select books on the 1^st and 3^rd floors, but should only remain on these floors for short periods of time while they use the collection.

Study Rooms

Study rooms are for law student use only.

Computer Use

Three computers near the reference desk are designated for use by the public for legal research purposes.

Scanners and Printers

The scanners in the law library are designated for use by the public for scanning related to Law Library materials only. We do not support scanning for other reasons. The Law Library does not have any printers available for the public. 

Noise

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 & Drink

Food and drink is not permitted on the 2nd (main) floor of the library.

Behavior

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.

• Not attending children in the library
• Behaving in a manner that threatens other users or staff
• Engaging in sexual harassment, including viewing pornography
• Physical or verbal threats of violence, or fighting
• Intoxication
• Damaging or vandalizing library premises, furnishings, equipment, or materials
• Having offensive personal hygiene or body odor
• Monopolizing or impeding the use of furniture by others
• Refusing to leave at library closing time or impeding the closing of the library
• Talking loudly or making noise that disturbs other library patrons
• Engaging in uninvited conversations with other users
• Soliciting legal advice from library staff or law students
• Behavior in violation of federal, state, or local law
• Behavior in violation of Brigham Young University policies

Enforcement

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, between the Wilkinson Student Center 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.

BYU Campus Map

Library Maps

First Floor (basement)

NOTE: The first floor is closed for construction until October 2022. Please contact ILL to request any item that is unavailable.

Second Floor (main)

Third Floor

For prospective law school applicants, BYU Law School tours (which may include a tour of the BYU Law Library) may be scheduled through the Law School Admissions Department.

BYU Law Library tours for other reasons may be scheduled by contacting the BYU Law Library Administrative Assistant at (801) 422-7475. 

All patrons who have a BYU ID card may borrow Law Library materials. BYU employees and BYU students will need to use their university identification card to check out materials.

Law school alumni, local attorneys, and students and faculty of Utah universities and colleges whose libraries are members of the Utah Academic Library Consortium may check materials out from the Law Library after setting up a Community Patron Account.

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.

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. Upon written request, at the time of donation, gifts not added to the library collection will be returned to the donor. 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. Contact Bonnie Geldmacher at 801-422-3572 for all gifts and donations.

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 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 BYU undergraduate classes. These lectures are particularly helpful for students asked to conduct research in the law library. Law librarians can adapt their lectures to the subject matter of the course. To schedule a lecture, contact Dennis Sears: (801) 422-7472 or searsd@law.byu.edu.

Law Library tours for teaching support may be scheduled through Annalee Hickman Pierson: (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. Due to high demand, please call 801-422-3593 to verify the availability of CDs prior to coming to the library. 

The recordings approved for credit in 2023 are:

Title	Media Type	Call Number	CLE Credits	# of Copies	Checkout Period
Constitutional Law (Sum+Substance) (2020)	CD	KF 4550 .Z9 .C43 2020	14	1	24 Hours
Torts (Sum+Substance) (2019)	CD	KF 1250 .Z9 .F56 2019	11	1	24 Hours

Note: The list of CLE materials changes every calendar year. While we submit the self-study CLE credits for approval early in the fall for the following calendar year, the Utah Bar sometimes does not get back to us before the next calendar year begins. We will update the recordings approved for credit in 2024 as soon as we know them.

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.  

You also have the option to listen to or watch these materials at the law library when the law library is open to the public. 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 with Reference Services 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 Pierson (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.

---

Alternative Sources of Credit:

• University of Utah CLE Collection
• Online CLE/MCLE through the Utah State Bar.

LexisNexis Digital Library Attorney Access Policy

The BYU Law Library provides access to the LexisNexis Digital Library through its Attorney Access program to the following individuals:

• BYU Law School alumni
• Members of the Utah State Bar
• Paralegals working for members of the Utah State Bar

The LexisNexis Digital Library contains ebook versions of the following Utah legal titles:

• Utah Code Annotated
• Utah Court Rules Annotated
• Utah Civil Practice

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. The BYU Law Library reserves the right to recall an ebook and/or terminate the patron’s check-out early and without notice. The BYU Law Library cannot guarantee access to titles in the LexisNexis Digital Library. The 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.

Law Firms in Utah

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.

Out-of-State Law Firms

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 law library for public use. Contact Reference Services 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.

Westlaw also provides 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.

The Law Library does not have any printers available for public patrons. The Law Library provides document scanners, which allow the option of saving a document as a PDF to save and print at home, for use by the BYU Law school community and for use by public patrons who are scanning library materials. If you need an on campus printing option, BYU has several Print Centers or Printer Kiosks across campus. 

The Y App can help you find the closest pharos printer. The Print and Mail website provides more information about these options. 

---

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)).

Scanned PDFs may be saved to USB flash drives, uploaded to cloud-based systems like your own Google Drive, Box, or Dropbox account, or emailed using web-based accounts such as Yahoo or Gmail.

Scanner Locations

The Law Library currently has:

• two KIC Bookeye open-face scanners (the newer one near the Reference Desk and the older one in the Reserve Room);
• four flatbed book scanners (2 near the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor, 1 in the Reserve Room, and 1 on the 3rd floor near the Rex E. Lee room); and
• two multi-page feed scanners (1 near the wall that at the end of the table has the reference co-op printer and another on the 3rd floor near the Rex E. Lee room).

Employees at the Circulation and Reference are trained and ready to assist anyone in the BYU Law community who needs help with scanning and anyone from the public who needs help scanning library materials.

Microform

Copies of documents on microform can be made as digital scans on the public computer in the Microform area (first floor). Patrons may email those scans on that computer to themselves.

The BYU Law Library has limited space and access to library materials during construction this summer in 2024 and will be locked and closed to the public beginning April 29, 2024, until further notice (likely until fall semester begins). 

BYU Law Students: Please see your email for instructions on how to access the library and study carrels.

People outside the BYU Law Community, including non-law BYU students and faculty, attorneys, and local community patrons may request an exception for access to use our library materials. A request for access can be made using this form. Note that requesting access does not guarantee you access, and requests will only be granted for access to use our library materials. Access for any other reason will not be granted. A decision regarding your request may take up to a full business day. Access, if granted, will always be brief, limited, and short-term (less than 2 hours) and will require an appointment made with a Reference Services employee to enter the library to use the access you’ve been granted.