Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
There is a certain timelessness to the sensory experience of the Reading Room: the scratching and shuffling of paperwork, the muffled thump of a closing book, the dull hum of fans in the warmer months. But in recent years, something decidedly more modern has joined in the chorus: the quiet staccato of laptop keyboards.
The emergence of computers and the internet has reshaped nearly every aspect of how libraries operate. At the same time, trends in legal education and the profession have led to changes in collections management, research-based curriculum, scholarship, the student experience, and other aspects of how law libraries support their institutions and the public more broadly.
In the following pages, Law Quadrangle speaks with three directors of Michigan Law’s library—representing more than eight decades of cumulative service to the Law School and its faculty and students— as well as alumni who have served in leadership roles at the law libraries at Boston University and the University of Notre Dame, to discuss these trends; their impact on students, faculty, and society; and the enduring value of law libraries.
Recommended Citation
Wier, James, "Beyond the Stacks: The Modern Evolution of Law Libraries" (2024). About the Buildings. 32.
https://repository.law.umich.edu/about_buildings/32
Comments
Originally published in Law Quadrangle Volume 67, No. 2, Winter 2024-2025.
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