The  Howard University School of Law Library

The law library is a state-of-the-art facility supporting legal research and instruction. This four-story, 76,000 square foot building will provide for a book collection of up to 215,000 volumes; seating for over 295 students, including 90 open carrels, with all locations wired for computer use; enlarge microform and audio-visual facilities; and distinctive rooms of wood and brick for special collections, newspaper and periodical reading, and the Rare Book Collection.

Library Floor Plans | First Floor | Second Floor | Third Floor | Fourth Floor | Overhead View

The library is organized around the second floor, triple-height Reading Room, which addresses the new courtyard and existing Holy Cross Hall to the south. The tall windows of this 4,000 square foot space give views onto the landscaped courtyard and celebrate the display of readers and books to the campus. Table and lounge seating for 80 students are provided in this great room, as well as the 2,000 volume Reference Collection. The book collection and individual student carrels are distributed equally on Floors 2, 3, and 4, which open directly to the Reading Room.

A wood paneled lobby at the First Floor connects the building entrances from the courtyard to the south and the parking areas at the north, and functionally separates the high-technology classrooms from the Library proper. A tiered room for 50 students and a smaller room for 20 provide both computer and audio-visual facilities.

Framing the interior entrance to the Library are display cases and video / computer monitors, informing visitors about the history of the Law School and the resources of the Law Library. Behind the grand stone stair that leads to the Main Reading Room are the primary support spaces for the administration of the Library, Computer and Audio-Visual Services, and Technical Services.

The west wing of the Law Library provides a total of 11 private studies and 11 group study rooms, which serve from two to eight students each, on the second and third floors. Included are a suite of offices for the Reference Librarians. Crowning the west wing and surrounded by a roof terrace is the Rare Book Reading Room.

The brick and stone exterior continues the color and material palette of the campus, while the tall windows and pilasters recall the Gothic characteristics of the exiting buildings. A dramatic copper visor roof provides a distinctive cornice to the facade and shades the Reading Room windows.

      Mission

History

The history of the Law Library coincides with the Law School's history.  Howard University was created by Federal Law on March 2, 1867. At that time the University consisted of four departments, one of them being  Law.

 The Law Department was officially organized in 1869.  One year later, University appropriations and gifts created the basis for a law library.  Buy July of 1870, the Library had approximately 300 volumes. In 1887, the Law Department and library moved to 425 Fifth Street.  At  that time a member of the law faculty was designated as the law librarian.  From 1890 to 1894, Professor Williams Richards served as librarian.  It was under the leadership of Professor Richards that the first library catalog was compiled.

In 1897, Professor James C. Waters, Jr. was appointed Librarian.  In 1923, the library catalog listed 3,500 books in the collection.  By 1929, the library had acquired over 11,000 volumes.

In 1923, Allen Mercer Daniel was appointed Special Assistant to the Librarian.  Five years later, the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Memorial donated $20,000 to the Library.  With those funds, the Library was able to satisfy the standards of the American Bar Association (ABA).  As a result, in 1931 the Law School was added to the ABA approved school list. Two years later, the Library was admitted into the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).  As such, Allen Mercer Daniel became the first black member of the AALL. In 1940, Allen Mercer Daniel was appointed Librarian and Assistant Professor.  Professor Daniel was proud to report that the Library had over 23,000 volumes in its collection.  During the twenty-six year tenure of Professor Daniel as Librarian, the Law Library acquired a wealth of materials.  At the time of his retirement, the Library had over 50,000 volumes.

In 1956, the Law Library moved to its Van Ness location (West Campus).  There the Library remained until 2001.  After a two week move, the  new library opened on May 29, 2001. The new facility, with 76,000 new square feet, is double the size of the older library.  Currently housing over 250,000 volumes, the new library is a testament to the riches of Howard University, its Law School, and its Law Library.