Actio 4.3 Library Specialization
THE BEGINNING OF LAW LIBRARIES
The first law libraries were found in England during the 15th century.
It is believed that these libraries were housed at the “Inns of Court.”
ENGLAND’S INNS OF COURT
These Inns, located in the city centers near the book sellers and the hub of the print trade, served as informal legal institutions that served mostly as finishing schools (Satterley, 2008). In addition to an overview of legal education, lessons also included dancing, literature, history, and philosophy.
Because of the Inns’ prime locations, they were also “centers for making contracts, and establishing trade and political ties with fellow members of the gentry” (Satterley, p. 209). This created a community of sorts between writers, politicians, and explorers. Lodging accommodations were also available for rent to those who did not attend Inns lessons.
Oxford and Cambridge were the two main legal institutions in England, until the 18th century, when legal education was reformed and Inns started to make law a more serious focus of their teaching.
LAW LIBRARY
The substantial law holdings found in Inn libraries were the result of Robert Ashley. Upon Ashley’s death in 1641, his personal library was bequeathed to the Inn. Additionally, Ashley’s estate also provided £300 for a Library Keeper.
Christopher C. Langdell, dean of Harvard Law School (1870), had a pivotal role in cementing the value of academic law libraries. Langdell emphasized the instruction of case method, and the rest of the nation’s law programs followed suit. Students’ lessons would focus on reading, analyzing, and applying court opinions, thus volumes containing judge-made law became vital in legal education and academic law libraries (Danner, p. 3213-14).
IN THE UNITED STATES
Before formal universities started offering a legal education, aspiring lawyers would learn in a law office setting. Working as clerks under the guidance of established practitioners, they would read and study the law at using the collection of bar association libraries or subscription libraries (Danner, p. 3213).
America saw its first academic law library at the College of William and Mary in 1779. At the time, it consisted of a small collection of law books within the college’s library. In 1817, Harvard Law Library was established. Harvard’s is “now the largest academic law library in the United States" (Danner, p. 3213).
RESOURCES
Danner, R. A., Estes, M. E., & Meadows, J. A. (2010). Law librarianship. In Bates, M. J., & Maack, M. N. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of library and information sciences (3rd ed.) (pp 3212-3232). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. doi: 10.1081/E-ELIS3-120044120
Satterley, R. (2008). The libraries of the inns of court: an examination of their historical influence. Library History, 24(3), 208–219. doi: 10.1179/174581608X348096
PHOTO RESOURCES
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lincoln%27s_Inn_Gate,_Chancery_Lane,_London-4100589732.jpg
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/55062/55062-h/55062-h.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serjeant%27s_Inn#/media/File:ONL_(1887)_1.084_-_Old_Serjeants'_Inn.jpg
https://www.middletemple.org.uk/members/inn-publications/members-guide-201819
https://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/inner_middle_temple_gardens
LIS 580: History or libraries
Spring 2020 / professor annette lamb
Submitted by Amy Coleman
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION (link here)
From the introduction of subscription and circulating libraries to medical libraries and professional society libraries, the modern era introduced a wide range of special library types. Select one of these libraries and discuss the reasons it emerged. Provide specific examples in the form of people, places, and events that shaped a specific special library trend. Finally, discuss what the original founders of the movement would think about how this specialty area has evolved.