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About the Library

Old Harvard Law Review books
A lecture being given to a roomful of listeners
Wide view of the reading room where students study at long tables. The room features large overhead lighting, many bookshelves, pillars, and latin inscriptions on the walls.

Our Mission

From Collections to Connections

The Harvard Law School Library supports the learning, research, and teaching needs of the HLS community through engagement with our expert staff and our unparalleled collection of global legal materials.

In the midst and wake of massive technological transformation, the Harvard Law School Library contributes to our community by curating and preserving vital information, engaging the community through education and outreach, and providing an environment in which the skills of legal research and practice are developed.

  • Our Principles

    The Library strives to maximize access to expertise and space for all members of our community

    We seek opportunities that create a culture of connection, enhance excellence in learning and teaching, and encourage the pursuit of justice and understanding of the law.

    The Library serves as a center for teaching and learning at HLS

    We provide expertise, resources, and tools that enhance the teaching experience of faculty, and the learning experience of students. We demonstrate our commitment to continuous learning and knowledge sharing through our services and products.

    The Library supports research and scholarship of the HLS scholarly community through our research services and products

    Our staff are recognized as integral partners, information providers, leaders, guides and scholars. We work with our community, and each other, to encourage and support all scholarly endeavors.

    The Library builds, sustains, and preserves open collections to the greatest extent possible, for use today and in the future

    We share our collections in person and on the web via multiple platforms and through collaboration with other libraries, courts, publishers, and aggregators of information.

    The Library is “the laboratory of the law”; a place of exploration for advancing knowledge, improving legal education and enhancing the impact of libraries within scholarly and legal communities

    We explore the mutable areas of libraries in both traditional service models and the technology space through iteration and evaluation.

    The Library fosters collaboration, exploration, curiosity, participation, respect, and accountability

    Library staff work across departments to forward the goals of the library and to engage intellectually in their work through exploration and experimentation. We trust each other as experts in our own domains and work together in a problem solving culture. Library staff actively participate in the life of the library through engagement with each other and our community. We treat each other with kindness and respect. We hold each other accountable for our words and our actions.

Departments

Access Services
Administration
Collection Development
Continuing Resources & Acquisitions
Digital Initiatives
Empirical Research Services
Faculty Research & Scholarly Support
Historical & Special Collections
Library Innovation Lab
Metadata Creation
Student Research & Instructional Services
alphabetical list of departments

Other Specialists: