As final exams approach, all students must keep in mind the importance of abiding by the Quiet Study Rules in all Mendik Library study areas. Even if you are the type of student who can study well in noise and commotion, remember that not everyone else feels the same way. At this time of year, the number of student noise complaints to library staff always rises dramatically. Making noise, even a little noise for a short time, can be extremely disruptive to your fellow students who are trying to study.

The library administration and staff, in concert with the Office of Facilities Management, does what it can to cultivate a quiet environment at finals time. Construction and maintenance work are avoided, and we make sure that the group study rooms are kept free for student use. We also walk around and “shush,” as good librarians must. But we can’t be everywhere, and we can do only so much enforcement. We count on the cooperation and collegiality of students to keep the peace.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL FLOORS IN THE OLD LIBRARY BUILDING AT 240 CHURCH ST. REMAIN QUIET STUDY ZONES, EXCEPT THE FIRST FLOOR.  All other reading areas, stack areas and public corridors in library spaces at 40 Worth St. and 240 Church St. are Quiet Study Zones. Within Quiet Study Zones:

* Never engage in conversation. A few words at a whisper should always suffice. If you must engage in conversation, take it to the library stairwells or outside.

* Do not use your cell phone, and don’t put it on vibrate—mute it completely or turn it off. Even a humming cell phone can disrupt your neighbor’s study. If you’re waiting for an important call, please find a place to study outside the Quiet Study Zones until you receive it.

* Cell phones aren’t the only electronics that make noise. If your laptop has a sound card, mute it so that its noises are not audible to your neighbors. If you’ve got an IPod or a Walkman, make sure to keep the volume at a level that others can’t hear.

* When you enter or leave a group study room or computer lab, remember to close the door behind you.

* If you become aware of a noisy facilities condition—a squeaky door, a thumping photocopier, a rumbling equipment room—report it immediately to the library staff (extension 2332, or you can push the “Library Help” button on any of our interoffice phones). We’ll do what we can to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.

During the finals period library spaces get very crowded, and tensions can sometimes mount. The only way to maintain an appropriate study atmosphere is through student cooperation under these simple rules. We ask that you keep them in mind always, and especially at this time of year.

If you have any questions, please contact Bill Mills, associate librarian for information services, at extension 2380 (212.431.2380) or wmills@nyls.edu.

You can now IM with the librarians at the Reference Desk (AIM screen name = nylslib).  We welcome your IM inquiries about library services, facilities, and legal research.  A librarian is available to answer instant messages whenever the Reference Desk is staffed (M-F 9 AM to 9 PM and Sat-Sun 11 AM to 6 PM).  Please take advantage of this new service, but remember that for some things, an in-person visit to the reference desk will still be your best bet. …

Beginning Monday, April 17 most Library study areas will remain open for extended Study Hall hours that run from regular closing time until 2:00 a.m.  Also, these areas will open an hour early, at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The Library’s Study Hall areas include the entire 240 Church St. building (the old Library) and the 14th floor of 40 Worth St. During these extra hours there are no librarians on duty, but the Study Hall areas are patrolled by security guards.  The extended hours will continue for the duration of the exams period.

The Library space on the 4th floor of 40 Worth St. will not be open for extended hours; rather it will function on the regular semester schedule.  Thus, the Library’s book collections, Circulation, and the Reserve Room will close at 11 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  All circulation transactions, including borrowing and return of books; and charge-out and charge-in of Reserve materials must be complete by regular closing time.

Six additional PCs have been installed for student use in the study area on the 14th floor of the library at 40 Worth Street. These computers, now in room 1402, are identical to the ones students are familiar with in the Library’s other computer labs. They access the Internet, email, and a full suite of productivity applications. They send print jobs to the Océ network printer that is located in the same room. These six PCs were moved over from the small computer lab on the 2nd floor of the 240 Church Street building (rm. L213). This room is still open, but now contains only an Océ network printer. Print jobs from the Lexis Learning Center in room L214 default to this Océ printer.

The restrooms on the 4th floor of 40 Worth Street are finally open!

This is true despite the fact that work on them is not quite  finished.  There are no mirrors, toilet paper dispensers, or towel or  soap dispensers at the sinks.  The building staff has left rolls of toilet paper sitting in the stalls, and at the sinks.  They’ve also  placed a trash receptacle in each room.  The bottom line is that  these facilities are rustic, but clean and ready to use.  We expect that work on them will be complete within a few weeks.

The LIbrary will be open Sunday, February 12th from 12 PM to 6 PM. Please call the Library at 212-431-2332 if you have any questions, or IM us at ‘NYLSLIB.’

Weather permitting,  the Library will be open at noon on Sunday Feb. 12. Contact the main law school number at (212)431-2100 for information about opening of various law school buildings.

Remember you can also instant message via AOL Instant Messenger. The Library Reference Desk’s ID is NYLSLIB.

We have reopened the 4th floor of the old library building at 240 Church Street. This floor had been completely closed, for various reasons, ever since the library’s book collections were moved over to 40 Worth Street.

The only feature of interest to students on the reopened floor are the two Group Study rooms at the south end. But there is demand for Group Study rooms in our library space, and that is why we have reopened them.

The remainder of the floor has been abandoned. The reading room study tables, computers, printers, and photocopiers formerly there have all been moved to the 40 Worth Street library space.

The restrooms on the floor are no longer being maintained; please use the restrooms on the other floors of 240 Church Street.

We will continue to do the best we can with servicing the machines, though with the library space spread among several noncontiguous floors in two separate buildings, this continues to be a challenge for us.

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.

We expect this situation will be more manageable when we are able to move into the rest of the new library space, on the 7th floor of 40 Worth, sometime this spring; until then please know that we appreciate your frustration, and also your understanding.

After some delay, it would appear that all NYLS ID cards are now  working in the automatic security system at 40 Worth Street.  Please  review the following carefully, so that you may explain it to
students and other NYLS ID card holders who need to enter 40 Worth.

ENTRY THROUGH 220 CHURCH ST.
Walk down the corridor to the security  stiles.  Do not stop at the guard’s desk in the center.  If you’re  heading for 4, go to the elevator banks on the right; to 14, the  banks on the left.  You MUST hold out your card to the sensor on top  of the security stile, so that it beeps and displays a green arrow  for you to go through.  Then walk straight through to your elevator  bank.

ENTRY THROUGH 40 WORTH ST.
The sensor device is a small black box  to the right of the door at the extreme right of the entrance.  Swipe  your card in front of the device; the light will turn green and the  door will unlock.  Once you’ve entered this way, you must ALSO show your card to the guard on duty directly inside the Worth Street  entrance.

WALKING THROUGH THE LOBBY
If you’re walking from one elevator bank  to the other (to go from 4 to 14 or vice versa) you MUST hold out  your card to the sensor of the stile in front of the elevator bank  you’re entering.

GENERAL RULES
Your ID swipe should work from within a clear plastic  case, so you need not remove it every time you enter the building.   Students whose ID cards don’t work should contact the Office of  Student Life.