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

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.