Library Policies & Usage

Welcome!

As you begin law school at Suffolk University, we hope you will take a bit of time to explore the law library. This guide is designed to help you make the most of the services and the collections we provide. We feel certain you will find the collection and our staff helpful. Please feel free to ask any library staff member if you have questions or need help. Our professional law librarians are experts at legal research and computerized resources and can speed your research. We stand ready to help you as you begin your studies.

We look forward to working with you.

Policies

Library Hours

Monday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 9 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Reference Hours

Monday - Thursday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Any changes in library hours will be posted on the library doors and the main page of the library website.

The primary mission of the Suffolk University Law School Library is to support the learning and scholarship needs of Suffolk University Law School students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni.

 

We are also open to Suffolk University students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

 

We are a private library and not open to the general public, with the following exceptions:

 

  • Current law students and law faculty of NELLCO full-member schools who need to access a specific resource that they cannot access via their own library*

  • Current members of state bars in good standing*

 

*During exam periods and other special events, we are only open to members of the Suffolk University community. Only members of the Suffolk University community can check out items from the general collection and reserve.

Policy:

  • Study room reservations must be made online on a first come first serve basis.
  • Only one study room reservation per day per student is permitted
  • Study rooms may be reserved up to seven days in advance.
  • Use of study rooms is limited to four hour increments per group.
  • If you are more than 30 minutes late arriving for your reservation, your reservation will be cancelled.
  • Abuses of study rooms and violation of the study room policy may result in the revocation of study room privileges.

 

Procedure:

  • Reservations for study rooms must be made online.
  • Study room doors will remain unlocked while occupied.

Do not leave valuables unattended.

  • Please be considerate of others and keep noise to a minimum in designated quiet zones, which are intended for individual reading and studying.
  • Designated quiet zones in the law library are the reading room and west side of the 6th floor and the reading room and west side of the 7th floor.  (The west side is to the left as you enter the library.) 

  • Food and drink—in permanent, spill-proof containers—are allowed in most areas of the library (see exception below).  Please be mindful and respectful of library property and fellow patrons by avoiding spills/messes and keeping noise and odors to a minimum.
  • Food and drink are not allowed in room 725, the research instruction room.

  • All patrons should set their phones to vibrate when entering the library to avoid disturbing other library patrons.
  • Talking on cell phones is permitted in the law library in areas that are not designated quiet zones provided that the noise does not disturb other patrons.

Located immediately to the left as patrons enter the Law Library, the Circulation/Reserve Desk is the place to go for many different items. Books are checked out and renewed here, audiovisual materials are requested here, professor reserve materials can be obtained here, and daily newspapers are available at this location. Interlibrary loan materials are picked up here and study rooms are signed out here.

You can reach the Circulation/Reserve Desk at 617-573-8177.
 

The library holds a small number of items in its Special Collections. These items can generally only be accessed Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm (excluding holidays) and must be used within the library. Inquire at the Circulation/Reserve desk for assistance obtaining Special Collections items.

Legal research librarians are available at the Research Desk, located directly across from the entrance to the Law Library on the sixth floor. If you are looking for reference or research assistance, help in formulating Lexis or Westlaw queries, an introduction to the online library catalog, or a quick tutorial on one of the many legal databases available in the Law Library, the Research Desk is the place to come. For more in-depth discussion of a research project, an appointment may be made with an individual legal research librarian. If you cannot make it into the Law Library, research assistance is available by phone at 617-573-8516 or via email at [email protected].