Introductory Guide for First Year Students

The Law Library has 27 study rooms available for reservation and study by groups of two or more law students. The rooms are equipped with dry erase boards and electrical outlets for computers. Five rooms on the 5th floor each include a wall-mounted monitor that can mirror a laptop screen to facilitate group projects.

Many of our study rooms offer opportunities to have fantastic views of the city, but if you find that too distracting we also have rooms that are interior and minimize those distractions. 

Law students may reserve rooms up to a week in advance using our online booking system, which is available from the Law Library homepage. The rooms are booked for groups of two or more law students, on a first-come/first-served basis. 

Reservations should list/include all members of the study group. This enables the first two members of the group to arrive at the Circulation Desk to pick up the key to the room. Your group won't be given a key unless at least two members of the group are present. The maximum reservation time for a study room is three (3) hours per day per campus ID. Study room keys accrue fines at a rate of 10 cents per minute.

The Circulation Desk has available extras that you may find useful when picking up your key, including dry erase markers and dongles for screen mirroring from your laptop. 

It's super simple to book a study room. Once you enter the booking system (from the button on the Law Library home page), you will be directed to a calendar page showing the list of rooms and their availability, as below. 

After using the cursor to select the increments of time desired for the reservation, you will need to authenticate as a law student with your campus ID. Once logged in, you will land on the booking form, a sample is shown below. Enter your name as well as the names of your group members and submit the booking. You will receive an email confirmation for your booking. 

Study rooms are hugely popular, and it may be difficult to get a reservation as the semester winds down toward exams. Following are best practices that will help assure that all our law students have the best experience possible with the study rooms.

• Reserve your room in advance so that you can more quickly pick up the key at the start of the reservation.
• List all members of the group in your reservation, so folks don't have to wait around for the person who made the reservation to show up and collect the key. If your group is more than 10 minutes late, you may forfeit your reservation.
• At least two people from your group will need to be present to check out the room key. 
• If your group finishes work before the reservation runs out, tell the folks at the Circulation Desk, so they can make the room available for others to reserve.
• Lock and close the door when you leave at the end of your reservation period.
• Remember to return the key to the Circulation Desk; this is especially hard late at night for 6th-floor reservations.
• If something comes up and your group isn't going to make it, cancel. The email confirming the reservation includes a link for canceling your reservation.
• Dispose of all food or beverage garbage outside of the study room.

In case you're interested, you can read the Law Library Study Room Reservations policy. If you have questions about the study rooms and how to use them, folks at the Circulation and the Reference Desk are happy to help!