The Notre Dame Law Department was established in 1869. The first published mention of a law school library was not until twenty years later when the Columbia Law Times described the small collection of 2500 volumes as "spacious, well-lighted" and "well-ventilated."

In these early years, development of the law library’s collection and staff was slow. The law school did not appoint the first law librarian, John Whitman, until 1925. His selection coincided with the law school’s accreditation by the American Association of Law Schools. By 1930, after more than 60 years of existence, the library had only grown to 10,000 volumes. This modest collection did not require a large staff. In fact, in 1942, a single librarian, Lora Lashbrook, oversaw the entire operation -- and served concurrently as teacher of research methodology, law school registrar, and secretary to both the dean and the faculty Marie Lawrence succeeded to the post of librarian in 1945. She guided the collection for almost 25 years. At her retirement, the library held 69,000 volumes -- still quite small by American Bar Association standards.

The enlargement of the library’s physical space in 1973 came under the leadership of the next librarian , Kathleen C. Farmann. The expansion and increased funding of the library, made possible in part by a gift from the Kresge Foundation, were welcomed but were nevertheless insufficient for the library’s continued growth. In 1985, the University committed itself to building a library that would support scholarship of the highest order, and it needed a librarian to spearhead that campaign. Roger F. Jacobs, then the Librarian of the U.S. Supreme Court, became the fifth Notre Dame law librarian.

The fruits of University’s investment in the library are apparent. In the past 19 years the library staff, library seating, and library shelf space have more than doubled. Total library physical area has increased by a third. The number of computer workstations has grown from two to fifty. The law library collection has grown significantly and now comprises over 618,000 volumes. Conversion to the Library of Congress classification system is complete, and the collection is totally searchable through a web-based catalog.The progress of the past will proceed in the future as we strive to build a leading, national research facility.

Law Library Facts
You might be interested to know:

• The collection now contains 324,000 printed volumes, subscribes to 6,200 serial titles, and includes 294,000 microform volume equivalents.
• The library seats 476 persons, and 241 of these seats are at individual study carrels.
• Students have access to campus and global networks through 50 PC's, 2 Macs, more than 100 data ports and a wireless network for laptop use.
• The law library has four study rooms, which are used for group study, small conferences, and video viewing.
• Nine professional librarians, eighteen support staff and numerous student assistants comprise the library staff.