We are excited to begin the new academic year. The Law Library’s dedicated staff and extensive collection are here to help with your legal research needs.

Our collection – in print, electronic format, and microform – is one of the nation’s finest. We have the largest public university law library collection in the country and one of the top three university law library collections, public or private. Our resources span domestic, international, comparative, and foreign law. To borrow materials or access reserve items, please visit the Circulation Desk, located to the left as you enter the library.

For legal research assistance, we encourage you to visit the Reference Desk, which is next to the reading area on the second floor. Our reference librarians bring more than 140 combined years of experience. We have passed bar exams; earned advanced degrees; worked in law firms; represented vendors; worked in the private, government, and academic sectors; served as officers in associations; written books and articles; spoken at conferences; attended continuing education sessions; and taught classes. We have worked in New York City, Boulder, Pittsburgh, the Washington DC area, Bismarck, Cedar Rapids, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Toledo. We are information detectives; we’re constantly looking for new and efficient ways to find information and to teach information retrieval. We’re curious and tenacious. We enjoy working with all people – from the neophyte law student to the ultra-sophisticated professor, from the harried lawyer to the beginning legal researcher, from the summer law clerk to the mid-level associate. When you have a research question, come share it with us, and let us use the depth and breadth of our experience to help you discover the right tools to find your answer.

The Law Library’s entrance is on the second floor of the Boyd Law Building. The library is open early and closes late most days; the hours are posted on this website and on a printed bookmark for your convenience.

In case you are not familiar with the layout of the Law Library, the collection and offices are spread over four levels. The Third Floor houses American state law materials, except Iowa; the Second Floor (where you enter) houses federal law, American law-focused journals, and the Iowa collection; the First Floor houses American law by topic, a large non-print collection, and the Boyd Presidential Collection; and the Ground Floor houses foreign, comparative, and international law collections, including journals, and a small collection of law-related print materials. As mentioned, the collection is large and varied, so we encourage you to ask one of the librarians or library staff for assistance.

The Law Library staff members look forward to working with you!