Library

  1. Authorized Users

    Affiliated users of the Marshall Law Library include students, faculty and staff of University System of Maryland campuses; attorneys; School of Law alumni; and UMMC and VA staff.  Students with valid IDs may bring guests into the library, but those guests must be accompanied by the student at all times.

    Visitors are welcome to use the resources of the Law Library only for the purpose of conducting legal research or using government databases or print materials.

  2. Required Identification

    Affiliated users must present current photo identification associated with the campus or organization listed above. Attorneys should present proof of current bar membership along with government-issued photo identification. Alumni will be asked to show a valid driver's license or other government-issued photo identification to the security officer at the main entrance. The officer will check the name against a list of alumni.

    Visitors must present a government-issued photo identification. If the request for entrance is granted, the security officer will scan the photo identification, take a photograph of the visitor, and issue a visitor's badge which must be worn and visible at all times.

  3. Hours of Access

    Before 9:00 a.m. and after 8:00 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on weekends, access to the Marshall Law Library is granted only to authorized affiliated users. Visitors may not remain in the library after 8 p.m. on weekdays, and will be asked to leave at that time.

  4. Conditions of Access

    Visitor access is granted solely for the purpose of using library resources. Use of other portions of the law school building (courtyard, vending area, dining area, computers in other parts of the school, etc.) is strictly prohibited. Visitors who are not using library computers or library study areas for legal research purposes will be asked to leave.

The facility provides accommodations for those with disabilities that go beyond what is required by law. Switch plates are operational on the main library entrance door as well as on all restroom doors. All study carrels and tables in the library will accommodate wheelchair users. Students who have questions about library accessibility issues or who have special needs should contact libraryweb@law.umaryland.edu.

Cell phone use is limited to designated cell phone areas in the law library. The designated areas are the Lounges on the 3rd and 4th floors, all Group Study rooms, and the Fayette Street stairwell. Cell phone booths are located just outside the law library entrance and between the law library and the law school on the 1st level.

Cell phone users should set phones on an inaudible setting while in the library. If you receive a call, please go to one of the designated areas to use your cell phone.

The Thurgood Marshall Law Library is primarily a research and reference collection of law and law-related materials to be used within the library. Therefore, many categories of legal materials do not circulate, including court reports, statutes, codes and regulations, digests, indexes, encyclopedias, directories, periodical volumes, parts of multi-volume treatises, and looseleaf services. These books must be used in the library and should be reshelved immediately after use to ensure availability to other patrons. Library materials that are available for general circulation, primarily monographic works, circulate via the library’s automated circulation system.

In addition to law library borrowing privileges, law students and faculty are entitled to direct borrowing privileges at 14 Maryland public colleges and universities either by going to the other library or by using the self-service "holds" delivery system available in the Catalog. Books requested via the "holds" system will be delivered to our library. The library also provides an interlibrary loan service for items not found in its collection or in the collections of other University System of Maryland libraries.

Eating and drinking in the library is limited to specific areas to limit public health risks to the Maryland Carey Law community. Eating and drinking in spill-proof containers can be enjoyed in the marked carrels along the wall parallel to Fayette Street on all floors of the library. Feel free to ask staff if you aren’t sure where these designated seats can be found. Please clean any spills or notify staff to avoid attracting pests as well as ensuring other people can continue to enjoy using the library space. We thank you in advance for doing your part to help minimize risk to our community.

Seven group study rooms on the third floor (Rooms 3316, 3320-3325) are available for use and must be reserved. Study rooms are locked and will require students to check-out a key from the User Services Desk on the 2nd floor of the library. To book, choose “Group Study Room” from the Student Resources menu on any library web page.  Reservations for rooms will be taken only up to one week in advance.  A minimum of two names (first and last names) with @umaryland e-mail addresses must be given for each reservation request. Students can make a maximum of one (1) booking per day for up to three (3) hours except for the last reservation of the day at 6:00pm, which will last until the library closes. To ensure continued eligibility to use the study rooms, keys should be returned to the User Services Desk at the end of your reservation.

The open areas of the library have been designated as quiet zones for studying and research. When you are in these quiet areas, please refrain from cell phone and other conversations.  The library’s student lounges (Rooms 3314 and 4409) and group study rooms (Rooms 3316, 3320-3325) are available if you need to conduct a conversation.  Please let someone know at the User Services Desk if other library users are being disruptive in a quiet area.

Smoking is not permitted inside any part of the library or law school, including the courtyard and the roof terrace.

To insure maximum availability of library materials, patrons are expected to reshelve all materials they have used. If you do not know where a book belongs on the shelf, please leave it at the User Services Desk.

To guarantee continued access to commercial software programs, reproduction of university-owned or licensed software is strictly forbidden. Under federal copyright laws, unauthorized reproduction of software can be subject to substantial civil penalties, as well as criminal action resulting in fines and imprisonment. Installation of software not owned by or licensed to University of Maryland, Baltimore is both a violation of the users' agreement and a violation of federal copyright law. A user making or using unauthorized copies of computer software or documentation may be subject to:

  1. Loss of University of Maryland, Baltimore computing privileges
  2. Appropriate federal penalties
  3. Other discipline, as appropriate. 

The primary purpose of the Thurgood Marshall Law Library is to support the teaching and research functions of the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, and other University System of Maryland researchers who need to use legal materials.  During the workweek, the Library also welcomes visitors who need to use our library collection and databases for legal research purposes.  Librarians are available to assist patrons with finding and using materials in the law library, but cannot give legal advice or answer questions concerning the interpretation of the law. See our general guidelines for visitor services for more information.

Westlaw

Due to license agreements, some databases are restricted to law school students and faculty. Many other databases are available to on-site library visitors. If you are in the library, please feel free to browse the list of databases. Although the full academic subscriptions to LexisNexis and to Westlaw are restricted to current students and faculty, a more limited version of Westlaw is available to on-site library visitors.

Since the library provides this database for visitor use, it not subject to the same rigorous user agreements that Westlaw normally requires; however, there are some content limits placed on Westlaw in order to protect intellectual property rights. The majority of content is available for downloading and emailing, including cases, statutes and most Maryland analytical materials. However, there is a limit of 20 document email or downloads per user session, and a maximum limit of 250 documents per day from our library. A notification will appear when you have reached the limit. To ensure that the next patron does not quickly exceed the session limit, please remember to sign out of Westlaw when you are finished.

 

Computer Use Policy for Visitors

Computers and computer network facilities are provided to support the education, research and service mission of the campus and its schools.

Visitors may bring a wireless-enabled laptop into the Law Library to access the online catalog and legal databases.  To access the guest wireless, visitors should double click the wireless network icon on the laptop’s system tray (which is usually in the lower or upper right corner, near the clock). A list of wireless networks that are available will be shown. Visitors should select and connect to the "UMB Guest" wireless.  Upon opening a browser, they will be prompted to enter an email address before proceeding.

Work and personal items should not be left unattended at any computer.

Visitor Workstation

The visitor workstation is available exclusively for academic and legal research purposes.

To use the visitor workstation, patrons must show an ID and sign in with their full name, indicating the time. The librarian on duty will be the only one with the password to this computer. After signing in, patrons may use the public computer for 30 minutes when other users are present. When finished, patrons should log out of the computer and return to the circulation desk to sign-out.

Misuse

Misuse of the public computers consists of any violations of the UMB Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy. Violations include, but are not limited to:

  • Computing activity that is not in support of the education, research, and service mission of the campus and its schools.
  • Securing unauthorized access to or unauthorized use of IT resources, or facilitating such use or access by another person.
  • Altering system software or hardware configurations without authorization.
  • Computing activity that is illegal.
  • Computing activity that is wasteful of IT Resources
  • Software theft or piracy, data theft, or any other action that violates the intellectual property rights of others.

Violations

Non-compliance with Law Library policies is considered disruptive behavior and will result in the loss of Library privileges. Additional sanctions, such as notification of the dean of the appropriate school may be imposed depending on affiliation of the individual or the nature of the violation.