On behalf of the entire staff of the Mendik Library, I want to extend my welcome and congratulations to the entering classes of 2009/10.  You are about to begin a challenging and exciting journey, and the library staff is ready and available to assist you in achieving the maximum benefits from your law school career.

You are entering NYLS at a special time for us:  By the time you graduate we will have moved into the new building (which includes a new Library) currently under construction.  This means that you will have the benefit of two “new” libraries—our temporary space on the 4th, 7th and 14th floors of 40 Worth St, and our permanent home on West Broadway.  But even though we are not yet in our permanent quarters, you should be assured that you are already getting the benefit of an outstanding library collection, package of services, and library staff.

Our large collection and extensive list of services are described in great deal on our web pages and numerous handouts.  What you might not realize from these publications is the outstanding quality of each and every person on the staff of the Mendik Library, and why that is important to you.  Our staff of 24 includes twelve professionals with master’s degrees, eight of whom also have J.D. degrees from law schools both in the region and around the country.  They all have many years of experience working in law libraries and most have also been at New York Law School for a number of years.  They can all help you with your library and research needs, of course, but their value to you goes far beyond that.  Do not hesitate to ask anyone your questions about the law school, particular courses, or any of the extracurricular activities available.  Someone will help you, or be able to direct you to the best person to give you the help you need.
 

For most law students, the law library quickly becomes one of the constant features of their lives.  You will soon find your favorite place to study, and will begin to recognize staff members and learn names.  And we look forward to meeting you.
 

We all realize that law school is a new experience for each of you, and we are committed to making that experience as positive as we can.

Sincerely,

Prof. Joyce Saltalamachia
Library Director

We are in the process of upgrading our online catalog to add additional search capabilities. Certain functions may be unavailable at this time (e.g., Words in the Title search). We expect full functionality to return by the end of the day.

Library patrons can now take advantage of three new service features.  First, borrowers can self-renew borrowed items online.  Second, items stored at the library’s off-site retrievable storage facility can now be requested directly via the catalog.  Look for the blue Request button at the top and bottom of the item’s catalog record entry.  Finally, borrowers will now receive emailed courtesy notices reminding them of upcoming due dates.  A fuller description of all three services can be found under Circulation Policies on the Library’s home page.

Over the last two weeks, the Library completed its move out of the old building at 240 Church Street, which is now completely closed, and into its renovated temporary quarters on the 7th floor of 40 Worth Street.  All Library offices are now at 40 Worth, and while staff continue to settle into our handsome new space, we are up and running.

For students, the new 7th floor space offers spacious computer labs with networked printers and photocopiers, wireless connectivity throughout, and two attractive study areas that feature ample seating with sixteen group study rooms!

Beginning Wednesday July 5, and for the duration of the summer, the 7th floor labs and study areas will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  The other Library areas are on the 4th and 14th floors of 40 Worth, and these will remain open for the full Library schedule.

We proudly welcome all members of the NYLS community, and urge you all to drop by and visit us in our new quarters.

During the library move, there will be no remote access to our subscription databases. If you are at NYLS, you can still connect to our databases using this page:

http://www.nyls.edu/pages/4709.asp

For further information, please IM us at nylslib or call us at 212-431-2332.

Beginning Thursday morning (6/15) all remaining contents of the old Library will be moved from the 240 Church Street building to the 7th floor of 40 Worth Street.    The 7th floor will house the library staff offices, significant new areas of student study space, group study rooms and computer training labs.  We hope to have the floor open and ready for all uses early in the week of June 19.

During this time access to the Library collection, facilities and study areas on the 4th and 14th Floors at 40 Worth Street should be uninterrupted.  The Reference, Circulation, and Interlibrary Loan departments will be open regular hours throughout this period.  The Reference Desk will be staffed as usual.  Additional study space also remains available in the Stiefel Reading Room in the A Building.

We expect the following interruptions of service, which may persist into the week of June 19:

            Telephone Service for Staff Who Are Moving:  This applies to all Reference Librarians, Technical Services Librarians and Library Administrative Staff.  Starting Thursday June 15, please use our reference desk number (212-431-2332) or circulation desk number (212-431-2333) when trying to reach any staff member. Your messages will then be passed on to the appropriate person.  Beginning next week, Library staff will all have the same phone numbers at 40Worth.

            Online Catalog and Subscription Databases: The public catalog and access to the Library’s subscription databases from off-campus will not be available beginning Friday (6/16) at 12:00 noon.  We hope to restore all catalog service by Monday 6/19.  The reference librarians [(212-431-2332) or e-mail at reference@nyls.edu] will be able to determine our book holdings and, if you are on-campus, direct you to alternative access for many of our subscription databases.

            Circulation Services: Book check-outs, renewals and returns will function normally, although we will not have access to Circulation Account Records between Friday afternoon (6/16) and Monday morning (6/19).

We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to welcoming you to our new spaces next week.

240 Church St., the old library building, will close one week earlier than originally announced.  There will be no access to this building for students or other users after the close of library business on Friday, June 9.  Study areas will remain available on the 4th and 14th Floors at 40 Worth Street, as well as the Steifel Reading Room in Building A.  We also look forward to the opening of significant additional library study space on the 7th Floor at 40 Worth Street, beginning Monday, June 19.

— Graduating Students

As you begin your preparation for the Bar Exam in July, please take note of available options for study spaces.

NYLS:

Library spaces, as well as other spaces in the NYLS building complex, will be open through the summer for Bar study by our graduates.  Our old library building at 240 Church St. will close permanently sometime this spring or early summer.  But this will coincide with the opening of new study spaces on the 7th floor of 40 Worth St.  We do not anticipate any significant disruption of available study spaces during our move from 240 Church St. to the 7th floor.  The spaces elsewhere in NYLS will be more than adequate to accommodate our graduates.

After finals, the Library is open reduced business hours through May, and closed over the long Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29.  Our summer business hours begin on May 30: We’ll be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every weekday, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every weekend.  The only exception is the Independence Day holiday, July 1 – 4, when the Library will be closed.

Beyond Library spaces, NYLS keeps several areas open 24-hours, 7-days, including the Independence Day holiday.  These areas are the Stiefel Reading Room; the C Building Cafeteria area (though there is no sale of food;) and the Student Lounge, computer labs, and vending areas in the basement of B and C Buildings.

All NYLS study spaces are air conditioned, and we will make every effort to keep them free of noise or other disruption.  To gain access, please make sure to bring your NYLS ID card to show the security guards.

OTHER OPTIONS:

You’re probably aware that our library has reciprocal agreements with certain other local law schools’ libraries that allow our students free use of those libraries.  But these agreements do not apply to our graduates.  Thus, if you wish to use another law school’s library for Bar study this summer, you may have to purchase a pass.

If you wish to use to another law school’s library for Bar study, you must contact the other library directly.  Most local law school libraries charge other schools’ graduates for a Bar study pass.  The typical charge is $50.  Some graduates will find it most convenient to study at the library of the law school that is hosting their Bar review course.  If this is your situation, then you should contact the library of your course’s host school immediately, as the number of passes being sold may be limited.
We have been advised that the law libraries at Pace in White Plains and St. John’s in Queens will be under construction this summer.  Pace’s library will not be open to graduates of any other school, while St. John’s is selling just a limited number of passes.  If Fordham’s law library is the most convenient place for your Bar study, you should contact Kristen Vissers at 212-431-2350 to inquire about access to that facility.  We will be collecting the details of other schools’ policies as they are made known to us.  You may inquire with our Reference librarians about these details, and about how to contact the other schools.

Finally, if you are employed by a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, you may gain access to this association’s law library in midtown for Bar study.  If this applies to you, you should contact Janice Johnson at 212-382-6739.

If you have any questions regarding summer Bar study options please call the library’s Reference librarians at 212-431-2332, or you may e-mail reference@nyls.edu.

As final exams approach, the printers and copiers in library spaces get more use.  And with more use, they tend to experience more problems.  The library staff will continue to do the best we can to get these machines serviced promptly, though with the library space spread among several non-contiguous floors in two separate buildings, this continues to be a challenge for us.  We rely heavily on students to report printer and copier problems.  The faster problems are called in, the faster we can get the machines serviced!

Please help us by making sure to call in reports of malfunctioning machines (that don’t already have "out of order signs" on them) to the Library at x2333.  If you’re at a machine that is not near an interoffice phone, you can use your cell phone to call us at 212-431-2333.  This is the number for reporting every sort of problem, from paper jams to network outages to malfunctioning card readers.

— Graduating Students

As you begin your preparation for the Bar Exam in July, please take note of available options for study spaces.

NYLS:

Library spaces, as well as other spaces in the NYLS building complex, will be open through the summer for Bar study by our graduates.  Our old library building at 240 Church St. will close permanently sometime this spring or early summer.  But this will coincide with the opening of new study spaces on the 7th floor of 40 Worth St.  We do not anticipate any significant disruption of available study spaces during our move from 240 Church St. to the 7th floor.  The spaces elsewhere in NYLS will be more than adequate to accommodate our graduates.

After finals, the Library is open reduced business hours through May, and closed over the long Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29.  Our summer business hours begin on May 30: We’ll be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every weekday, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every weekend.  The only exception is the Independence Day holiday, July 1 – 4, when the Library will be closed.

Beyond Library spaces, NYLS keeps several areas open 24-hours, 7-days, including the Independence Day holiday.  These areas are the Stiefel Reading Room; the C Building Cafeteria area (though there is no sale of food;) and the Student Lounge, computer labs, and vending areas in the basement of B and C Buildings.

All NYLS study spaces are air conditioned, and we will make every effort to keep them free of noise or other disruption.  To gain access, please make sure to bring your NYLS ID card to show the security guards.

OTHER OPTIONS:

You’re probably aware that our library has reciprocal agreements with certain other local law schools’ libraries that allow our students free use of those libraries.  But these agreements do not apply to our graduates.  Thus, if you wish to use another law school’s library for Bar study this summer, you may have to purchase a pass.

If you wish to use to another law school’s library for Bar study, you must contact the other library directly.  Most local law school libraries charge other schools’ graduates for a Bar study pass.  The typical charge is $50.  Some graduates will find it most convenient to study at the library of the law school that is hosting their Bar review course.  If this is your situation, then you should contact the library of your course’s host school immediately, as the number of passes being sold may be limited.
We have been advised that the law libraries at Pace in White Plains and St. John’s in Queens will be under construction this summer.  Pace’s library will not be open to graduates of any other school, while St. John’s is selling just a limited number of passes.  If Fordham’s law library is the most convenient place for your Bar study, you should contact Kristen Vissers at 212-431-2350 to inquire about access to that facility.  We will be collecting the details of other schools’ policies as they are made known to us.  You may inquire with our Reference librarians about these details, and about how to contact the other schools.

Finally, if you are employed by a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, you may gain access to this association’s law library in midtown for Bar study.  If this applies to you, you should contact Janice Johnson at 212-382-6739.

If you have any questions regarding summer Bar study options please call the library’s Reference librarians at 212-431-2332, or you may e-mail reference@nyls.edu.

Bill Mills
Associate Librarian