Top Law Schools

I was hoping to get a thread started with information on the different law schools and their library hours.

Let me get this started:

- University of Minnesota - 24 hrs access, ranked 7th largest in the country.

- New York University - Depending on the day: M -TH 8am - 11:30pm, FRI 8am - 10pm, SAT 9am - 9pm, SUN 10am -11:30pm, study halls open until 2am.

- Columbia Law School - Depending on the day: M - Fri 8am - midnight, SAT 10 am - 8 pm, SUN 10am - Midnight

- NU is open from 7:30AM - 11PM from Monday - Thursday, 7:30AM - 6PM on Friday, 9AM - 6PM on Saturday, and 9AM - 11PM on Sundays! However, the building and classrooms are open 24/7 (thanks chadwick218)

** I'll update this thread as we get more hours and schools, and I will place them in law school ranking order later.

I hope I am not getting in the way when I say that this has the potential to be a very useful thread. This is info that I have not seen addressed anywhere else on TLS. That said, I am a 0L and have no information to give.

Isn't this a major factor in the Cooley rankings?

NU is open from 7:30AM - 11PM from Monday - Thursday, 7:30AM - 6PM on Friday, 9AM - 6PM on Saturday, and 9AM - 11PM on Sundays! However, the building and classrooms are open 24/7 (assuming that you key card actually works correctly)

napolnic wrote:Isn't this a major factor in the Cooley rankings?

Library Hours per Week with Professional Staff - Access to library professionals normally occurs only when a library is open for business. Thus, the more hours a library is open and staffed by professionals, the better it serves its research support and resource function. Previous Official Guides reported these hours, but the 2004 and later editions have only the “hours per week the library is open." The authors computed the 2004 ratio of hours with and without professional staff, assumed that ratio continued in the current year, and computed a new allocation of hours on that basis.

Total Library Hours per Week - Law school libraries serve as study centers for students. Access to a quiet place to study and at least some of the collection is particularly important to students.

Duke is 24 hrs (for Duke Law students and faculty). UVA is from 8 a.m. to midnight.

Notre Dame is 24 hours I believe...

predetermined wrote:Which law school libraries serve, or at least let you drink, coffee?

Although NU does not serve drinks in the library, you are allowed to bring in drinks and food!

predetermined wrote:Which law school libraries serve, or at least let you drink, coffee?

I booze wherever I damn well please.....oh you were thinking coffee...oh..um...carry on

predetermined wrote:Which law school libraries serve, or at least let you drink, coffee?

There is a "no coffee" library? That is rough.
Some law schools have their own cafés, but not always in the library.
And of course, many will have coffeehouses nearby.

Cornell Law Library is open 24 hours to law students only. As a former student worker there for four years during college, I can say that on the record, coffee is prohibited in the library, and in particular, the much-photographed reading room. Off the record, however, library staff care much more about keeping undergraduates out after regular hours than about ordering manic, sleep-deprived law students to forgo their caffeine.

BYU has a no coffee rule.

Of course, this is for the whole campus, not just the law library.

Genki wrote:BYU has a no coffee rule.

Of course, this is for the whole campus, not just the law library.

Is magic underwear required?

Can we also get a listing of how many chairs are in the libraries? Preferably separated into two categories, those with cushions, and those without.

According to their respective websites:

Harvard Law School Library
• Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to midnight
• Monday-Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to midnight
• Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/abou ... index.html

Yale Law School (Lilian Goldman Law Library)
Monday - Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Friday 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
http://www.law.yale.edu/library/about/hours.asp

Stanford Law School (Robert Crown Law Library)
Monday - Thursday 8:00 AM - Midnight
Friday 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM - Midnight
http://www.law.stanford.edu/library/#hours

They should all be 24hrs.

does uva have coffee?

Stanford has a 24 hour reading room, with printing, etc.

savesthedayajb wrote:They should all be 24hrs.

Agreed.

Indiana:

M-W 7:30 am-1 am
Th-F 7:30 am-12 am
Sa 8 am-10 pm
Su 9 am-12 am

Halibut6 wrote:

savesthedayajb wrote:They should all be 24hrs.

Agreed.

+1 NYU's closes at 11:30 on normal nights.

I'm glad this thread was started. One thing I can't stand is a library with narrow hours. I'm surprised that some of the top schools don't keep their libraries open later. My inclination is definitely for a 24-hour library, but as long as the library is open until midnight most (or every) night I think I wouldn't mind that. What really gets me is when a library closes for an entire day or two at some point during the semester- for holiday or otherwise. I may be somewhat extreme on this, but getting locked out of a library when I need to get something or be there to study is something I really can't stand. Then again, I have a feeling the 24-hour per day policies may have mental health implications...

Halibut6 wrote:

savesthedayajb wrote:They should all be 24hrs.

Agreed.

Yep. It's actually something that would be a tie breaker between similar schools for me (I work much better in the library than at home).

ndnlawdc wrote:Stanford has a 24 hour reading room, with printing, etc.

Yeah or you could go study with the UG nerds in Meyer. Ugh I hate Meyer.

Great thread! Our regular hours are 8:00am to 1:00 am, extended to 2:00 am during the reading period before finals.

We are also granted library privileges at NYU and Columbia during the academic semester, and their students can use our library. This leads to some fun situations, such as what happened the last time we visited CLS... We love the Columbians, though, and they generally are fond of us.