Welcome (Back) to RWU Law!

The law library staff is excited to welcome the class of 2029 and welcome back our rising 2Ls and 3Ls! We have been busy this summer getting ready to see you at your orientations, 1L library tours, and as guest instructors in clinics, seminars, and other classes. We will show you what’s new in the library at these events and classes, but we’d like to start by sharing how the library can contribute to a successful academic year.

The library offers a variety of services and resources for students at every stage of their legal education, supporting study, research, practice skills education, career development, and bar study.

It all starts with the library staff. We will introduce you to the new faces (and roles) in the library in the months ahead. For now, know that you can get legal and non-legal research assistance in person, via Ask a Librarian, by email, or by calling 401-254-4546. Email us at lawlibraryhelp@rwu.edu with ANY questions, and your question will be referred to the appropriate staff member!

The library staff coordinates and supports a variety of products and services:

• Study aids for the 1L and upper-class curriculum, with a Study Aids Overview about the types and uses of study aids and links to our study aids guides; 
• RWU LawGuides , which cover a wide variety of topics, from Administrative Law to a guide for the White Collar Crime seminar; 
• Thirteen study rooms for individuals, study group meetings, or to participate in an online class, located in the library and on the 2nd floor; 
• Library technology including wireless access and printing, scanning, and our docking stations;
• The library’s discovery system, which allows you to Search Rhode Island Law Libraries for items in our library collection, the State Law Library, and online;
• Additional databases in our Digital Resources A-Z guide for resources available on and off campus; and
• Use the interlibrary loan service to obtain an item not found in the discovery system or the RWU libraries. This is a great option if your textbook for an elective class hasn’t arrived and you need to get the pages for the first reading.

The library also offers many useful items for short-term use: chargers for phones and computers, bookstands, umbrellas for rainy days, table lamps, and blankets and fans for cold or warm spots. All items can be borrowed from the circulation desk for three hours.

Want to stay in the loop about all that’s new in the library?  Visit our law library website,  follow this blog, and/or join us on social media at our Facebook, X, and/or Instagram accounts.

The library is the heart of the law school and its legal laboratory—a social space, a place to research and study, and where you can take a wellness break. If you have any questions or just need a helping hand, please stop by and say hi!

* Hat tip to Charles Eliot (heart) and Christopher Columbus Langdell (laboratory), see The Academic Law Library in the 21st Century: Still the Heart of the Law School, 1 UC Irvine Law Review 159 (2011).

This blog post was written by a human—one who loves the “em dash”.