Law library materials designated for circulation may be checked out by law students, faculty, and staff using their Temple ID cards. Borrowers are responsible for materials checked out in their names.
Part of the law library’s collection is in closed stacks and must be accessed by law library personnel. If unsure of an item’s location, a patron should use the “Library Search” feature on the website for either the law library of the university library and note the location, call number, and title. The patron should take that information to the Information Desk. The patron will either be directed to a location in the open stacks or library personnel will retrieve the material from closed stacks.
Confidentiality of Library Records
Under Pennsylvania law, 24 P.S. §4428, library records relating to an individual patron’s use of the Law library and its resources are confidential.
Types of Materials Available
- Materials for library use only are generally primary law materials and journals held in open stacks, but also include reference materials, selected federal depository materials, microforms, rare or delicate items, and special collections.
- Reserve materials primarily include casebooks and current editions of study aids. These materials circulate to students and staff for 3 hours and to faculty for 7 days. No renewals are permitted. Within two hours of the Information Desk closing, Temple Law borrowers may check out reserve materials overnight. These items are due one hour after the Information Desk opens the following day.
- Regularly circulating materials include looseleafs, monographs, periodicals, editions of study aids other than current editions. These circulate until the end of the current semester and may be renewed up to 140 days from the original checkout date.
Borrowing Privileges by Patron Category
- Temple Law faculty may check out non-reserve library materials for the academic year with a due date occurring in May, which is determined by the university library.
- Temple Law Legal Assistants are granted proxy borrowing privileges for their assigned faculty. Those proxy permissions are noted in the LA’s account in the online library system.
- Research Assistants may be granted proxy borrowing privileges by their assigned faculty. Once added to the RA roster through the RA form distributed to faculty each semester, the RA’s account in the online system will note their proxy borrowing privileges
- Temple Law students, staff, and visiting scholars may check out non-reserve library materials until the end of the current semester and may be renewed up to 140 days from the original checkout date. These patrons may check out Reserve materials for 3 hours.
- Temple graduate students may be granted borrowing privileges upon receipt of letters of reference from their advisors, specifying that they require material available only at the law library. They may check out non-reserve library materials until the end of the semester. These items may not be renewed. Non-law graduate students may not check out reserve materials.
- Temple undergraduate students may use library materials only on premises, upon receipt of a memo from the Charles Library Services Desk.
- Temple Law alumni and bar members must use materials during the same day of the visit and on premises.
- Law alumni without current bar cards and other authorized patrons should contact the library (tulawlib@temple.edu) ahead of their visit to arrange access to the building.
Requests for Recall
This service is available to Temple Law faculty only. If an item is recalled, the patron has 5 days to return the item before their borrowing privileges are suspended. Items that have been recalled cannot be renewed.
Fines, Fees, and Blocks
| Material Type | Fine |
|---|---|
| Reserves | $5 per hour overdue |
| Regularly circulating materials | $1 per day overdue |
Fines begin to accumulate on the first day or the first hour after an item is overdue. Fines must be paid at the circulation desk using a credit card.
Fines and Fees Timeline
- Circulation privileges are suspended once fines have accumulated to $35, and the patron’s borrowing privileges are suspended until the fine is paid.
- If an item is 60 days overdue, the item is considered lost. Either the replacement cost of the item or a $200 fee is assessed to the patron.
- If an item is 60 days overdue, a block is placed on the patron’s Banner record, precluding diplomas and transcripts from being issued until all fees have been paid.
- Items returned after 60 days usually will not be accepted due to the probability a replacement copy already has been purchased by the library.
- No refunds will be issued.
- The law library does not accept replacement copies for lost materials.
Overdue Notices
Overdue notices are sent to patrons via their Temple email account at intervals of 1, 3, 10, and 45 days after the due date. At 60 days after the due date, the item is considered lost. Please see the Fines and Fee Timeline detailed above for more information about lost items.
Damaged Items
Return of materials in a damaged condition will be treated as “lost,” and the borrower will be subject to the Fines and Fees Timeline detailed above. The law library does not accept replacement copies in lieu of payment.
Claims Returned
Upon request, library personnel will search the stacks for material that a patron believes has been returned. The material will remain on the patron’s record pending the search. If found, the item and associated overdue or lost charges will be removed from the patron’s record. If not found, the patron will be assessed a lost item charge.
Interlibrary Loan
Law students, staff, and faculty may request materials not available in the law library or other Temple University libraries through interlibrary loan (ILL), a system built on cooperative relationships established by Charles Library. ILL materials are circulated according to policies mandated by the lending institution and Charles Library. Patrons are asked to use other Temple libraries before making these requests, which are done through E-Z Borrow or ILLiad.
Borrowing Privileges at other Temple University Libraries
Law faculty, staff, and students may also check out books from Temple University Libraries. A valid Temple University ID card must be presented at the time of checkout. Fines generated by use of these materials cannot be waived by the law library.