Dear Students,
On behalf of the Law Library, please allow me to welcome you to, or back to, Cornell Law School. I second the words of your Dean and your Dean of Students about this unprecedented academic year, and our faith in your “grit and grace,” in the words of the Dean of Students.
We at the Library are doing our best to deliver library resources and services to you as valuably and reliably as possible. The library team has spent the summer designing new ways of making materials available to you in formats that can work no matter where you are studying and learning; creating research and learning guides and tools to help you manage learning law in the current circumstances; and making learning and studying space available for those of you who are located in Ithaca.
I’d like to draw your attention to our newly updated Law Library FAQ, and I’d like you to note a few specific updates as we begin the semester.
FAQ number 2 points to the reservation process and conditions for studying and learning onsite in selected Law Library and Law School spaces. Please note that the Library “stacks,” or bookshelves, are not accessible to you this term. We are unable to provide desk service, and instead can be reached by email through a number of contacts listed on our website. Or for any question, simply email lawref@cornell.edu, and you will be answered or directed appropriately.
FAQ number 7 explains that the Library have worked with your professors to make course reserves available to you only through your course Canvas sites. Physical course reserve lending is suspended this semester.
FAQ number 9 gives details about how to acquire your casebooks or textbooks in print or electronic format. We have learned that some print books are out of stock or difficult to get. We are working with your professors to make early weeks’ readings available on Canvas. On the other hand, ebooks are available for immediate download upon purchase. This FAQ also explains that one publisher, West Academic/Foundation Press, makes its ebooks available only from its website, not The Cornell Store.
And FAQ number 15 notes that lockers are not available this term. The Dean of Students, Law School Facilities, and the Library are working together to help students to retrieve items that may have been left in lockers in March. Please watch for updates.
Much more information is in our FAQ, and the page will be regularly updated with new information. Please also watch for Keywords, our new Newsletter.
Once again, welcome, and I look forward to engaging with you during the course of the year. If you have any concerns, please reach out to me. If you have other informational questions, please contact lawref@cornell.edu.
Kind regards,
Kim P Nayyer
Edward Cornell Law Librarian
Associate Dean for Library Services
Professor of the Practice
Cornell Law School and Cornell University Library
Administrative Manager: Cassi Norgaisse, cn349@cornell.edu