FRIENDS OF THE JACOB BURNS LAW LIBRARY

THE LATEST NEWS FOR OUR FRIENDS

• Exclusive! Pioneer of law classification Dr. Jolande Goldberg of the Library of Congress speaks in a video interview about the creation of the LC law classification schedule, the system by which LC organizes its extensive research collections.
  
• Paul Dembling’s online video oral history chronicling the legal development of NASA and describing the contents of his archives in Special Collections.
  
• View the current issue of A Legal Miscellanea (a newsletter for our Friends)!

WHO ARE OUR FRIENDS?

The Friends of the Jacob Burns Law Library is a group of individuals, law firms, and other organizations dedicated to supporting the continued growth and enhancement of the collections through a variety of methods.

In today’s institutional purchasing climate, the spiraling cost of books has forced many libraries to decrease dramatically the scope of their spending, with destructive long-term, and often irremediable, effects on their collections. The efforts of alumni, faculty, law colleagues, and other Friends enable the Law Library to maintain and enhance the quality and scope of its important collections, and provide assurance of continued excellence for future generations of students and researchers.

A PREMIER RESEARCH LIBRARY

The Jacob Burns Law Library is among the largest and most prestigious academic law libraries in the United States. It offers a research collection rich in the historic and contemporary legal materials of America, as well as international and comparative materials.

The Law Library’s holdings of 600,000 volumes and volume equivalents provide students, attorneys, and academics with a wealth of legal information. It subscribes to hundreds of scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals and looseleaf services. Among the special holdings of the Law Library are superior resources for environmental law, government procurement, intellectual property, and international law. Members of the reference staff have first-rate expertise in these areas and are available for assistance in using the library’s exceptional resources.

Of particular note are the Law Library’s legal history materials. Many works in Special Collections are available in no other library in the United States. These collections are especially strong in American legal history, French legal history (including an impressive assemblage of coutumes, or French customary law), and ancient legal systems, represented by a significant collection of Roman and canon law works. Its growing collection of incunabula (the earliest printed books, 1440-1500) is a treasure unmatched by all but a very select group of academic law libraries in the United States. The Library’s collection of trials from jurisdictions across the globe is another valuable resource duplicated by few institutions.

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A FRIEND!

• Prospective Friends of the Jacob Burns Law Library include alumni, faculty, and students of The George Washington University Law School, members of The George Washington University community at large, and individual supporters, law firms, and corporate groups from outside the University community, all of whom are interested in the advancement of the Law Library. Anyone can be a Friend!
  
  
• Friends receive newsletters highlighting recent acquisitions and developments.
  
  
• Friends receive invitations to receptions and other events sponsored by the Law Library.
  
  
• Alumni of the Law School have access privileges automatically upon graduation. Alumni Friends making donations to the Law School at various suggested levels also are granted borrowing privileges.
  
  
• Friends not affiliated with The George Washington University Law School are granted access to the Law Library only. Individual Friends are granted borrowing privileges at certain suggested donation levels. Law firm and corporate Friends receive expedited interlibrary loan service for Law Library materials. Friends membership does not include access to limited-use databases or borrowing from other institutions.
  
  
• Privileges granted to Friends are not transferable. Please note that Gelman Library and Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library are separate organizations and do not grant access or privileges to Friends of the Jacob Burns Law Library.

JOIN THE FRIENDS OF THE JACOB BURNS LAW LIBRARY

Note: For your covenience, we have a fill-in, PDF version of this form. Click here to download this form, which you can easily complete, print, and mail to us. (Adobe Reader for PDF's is freely available, here.)

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