Borrowing Books and Other Materials: Collections & Loan Periods

The library has a wide range of materials to support legal education and student practice.

Much of the Law Library's collection is non-circulating and may only be used in the library. This includes codes, citators, reporters, digests, form books, loose-leaf services, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, indexes, microforms, and general reference materials.

Law students may borrow a variety of equipment, such as chargers and laptop locks, from the Information Desk.

All tangible library resources and many electronic resources can be found using SuperSearch. In addition, the library maintains many research guides to help patrons locate resources relevant to their research need.

Note: No library materials may be taken from the building or stored in reserved study carrels unless they have been properly checked out.

Drake Faculty and Staff:

Most circulating items [1] can be checked out for the academic year and will be automatically renewed as long as they have not been recalled (because someone else needs them). Also see Exceptions below.

Drake Law and Other Graduate Students:

Most circulating items [1] can be checked out for the semester and can be renewed if there are no holds on them. Also see Exceptions below.

Members of the Iowa Bar, Drake Undergraduate Students, and Drake Alumni:

Most circulating items [1] can be checked out for four weeks and can be renewed if there are no holds on them. Also see Exceptions below.

Exceptions:

• Reserve items [2]: one week for law faculty; two hours in-library for everyone else [3]
• Study room keys: (Law school students only) 5 hours
• Headphones, tape recorders and (Law school students only) laptop locks, and foot rests: Library closing time, in-library use only
• Phone and computer chargers: (Law school students only) library closing time
• Feature films: one week
• Bound periodicals: end of term loan, only available to Drake faculty, staff, and graduate students (including law)
• Study aids in stacks (not reserve), on CD, and older flashcards: one week
• Records and briefs of the Iowa Supreme Court: one week
• All items: The due date may change if another patron places a hold on an item someone has checked out. The patron with the item will be informed of the new due date via email and is expected to return the item as soon as possible, and no later than the new due date, to facilitate sharing of library materials.

Notes:

1. "Most circulating items" means treatises, whether single or multi-volume, CD-ROMs and other computer discs, and federal and state documents (when circulating, as indicated by a charge pocket), excluding reserve items and superseded volumes/older editions housed in the lower level.

2. Reserve items are kept behind the Information Desk and include course reserve copies, current (unbound) journals and other periodicals, most recent study aids, high-use treatises, and reference works.

3. In rare instances, some reserve materials may be checked out overnight, to be returned no later than one hour after the library opens the next day. To request an overnight loan, speak with a library staff member at the Information Desk during regular business hours.