The Library's primary mission is to serve the educational and research needs of the faculty, students and staff of Tulane University Law School. The Library has a secondary mission to support the research needs of the Tulane University community at large, law school alumni/ae, patrons using the Federal and Louisiana Depository Collections, and students and faculty from other academic institutions with whom the Law Library has reciprocal agreements.
The collection is located on floors three through six of Weinmann Hall, nestled amongst beautiful live oaks and within walking distance of the Audubon Park and Zoo in uptown New Orleans. The collection of more than 560,000 volumes in print and other equivalents includes standard sources on U.S. federal and state law, foreign, international, and comparative law, legal commentary on a variety of topics, civil law, maritime materials, and resources of other disciplines of interest to legal researchers. The Law Library is only one of seven campus libraries. It subscribes to hundreds of periodicals, a multitude of electronic databases, and contains the largest government documents collection of any law school. With $1,047,018 spent on library materials in 2011, the library offers 553 inside seats, seven full-time librarians and is open an average of 113 average hours per week. 293 wired connections are available to students as well as 98 networked computers and a wireless computer network (personal computers are not required.) The Library ranks 33rd in size when compared to other U.S. law school libraries, and its collection reflects the changes and trends in legal education and the legal profession.
Tulane offers a curriculum that is both unique and distinctive, particularly in the areas of civil law, European legal studies, comparative and international law. Located in the only civil law jurisdiction within the United States, Tulane Law School offers its students a unique opportunity to study the blending of civilian and common law principles in a distinctive mixed jurisdiction. The Library's collection is tailored to support faculty scholarship and teaching along with the curriculum and interests of its students. The international law collection includes publications from all continents, with an emphasis on materials from Latin America, Western Europe, and the European Union. The Louisiana Depository Collection and the materials housed in Special Collections provide a special emphasis on modern and early Louisiana legal history. The Judge John Minor Wisdom Collection consists of law books and legal materials that Judge Wisdom amassed during his career, reflective of his efforts to dismantle segregation in the South. The Rare Book Collection includes significant continental European legal history materials and a collection of canon law materials. The library also has a media collection which contains, among other items, the 77 videocassette collection of "[Four Criminal Trials] [videorecording]: Proceedings and Jury Deliberations of Four Trials in Arizona" filmed with special permission from the Arizona Supreme Court by CBS News (1997).
The Law Library provides a welcoming and comfortable environment that is adaptable for multiple uses, including individual research and quiet reflection, collaborative learning, formal and informal instruction, and social interaction, with technology integrated throughout. The library offers more than 500 study spaces in the computer room and individual study carrels throughout the facility, the magnificent Reading Room, and in lounges and group study rooms. The carrels are clustered in small groups, interspersed with the collection so students can maximize their use of the library, leading to more efficient and productive study.
The entrance to the Library is located on the third floor of Weinmann Hall, Tulane Law School, 6329 Freret Street in New Orleans, Louisiana 70118.