banner banner

New Policies for the Law Society Law Library

We wish to announce that new policies related to the use of the Law Library and the development of our collection have been approved by Benchers and are now in place at the Law Library. You may view these policies on our website under the Library pages.

Some important highlights from the new policies are:

Reserve Collection: The borrowing period for items from the Reserve Collection (behind the glass doors in the cabinet at the front of the Law Library) has been changed from 24 hours to 3-days where they will be due back by the end of business on the third day.

Library Borrowing and Access for First-Year Students: With this new policy, first-year students will be able to borrow from the Law Library and have an afterhours access card for the duration of their work term. This access will be conditional upon the principal/primary supervisor of the student completing a form (found on our website with the new policies) and agreeing to take responsibility for ensuring the student returns all items, and if any fees are required the principal agrees they will ensure they are paid.

Donations: A new policy regarding donations to the Law Library has been put into place and can be found in the Collection Development Policy on the website. Please ensure that you have reviewed this policy and received approval from the Law Librarian before making a donation. Items should not be dropped off at the Law Library without prior approval.

Circulation Periods: All Members may borrow from the Law Library and may renew up to 3 times. If you are not sure of when your item is due, please use the Login button on our web-catalogue (https://17941.rmwebopac.com/) [upper left-hand corner] and log-in with the email you provided to the Law Library. You will be able to see the items you currently have out on loan and your previous borrowing history. Please note that if you have not borrowed within the last 2 years, we will not have a current email on file (it is not connected to the Law Society’s Lawyer’s Portal) and you will not be able to make use of that feature. Members are requested to keep to their borrowing periods and renew or return on time.

Overdue Items: Patrons who have items that are overdue will receive overdue notices from the Law Library by both email and telephone. Members who do not respond to these notices and fail to return items that have been overdue longer than the maximum lending period (including the three renewals which is a total of 8 weeks or 56 days), will be required to purchase a replacement copy for the Law Library. A $25.00 administration fee will be required to be paid by Members who exceed this time frame, and this fee will be required to be paid even if the item is located and returned.