In keeping with its status as the oldest and largest public law library in the state, the Alexander Campbell King Law Library at the University of Georgia builds collections for anticipated needs as well as current needs. As a part of UGA, a land-grant and sea-grant institution, the Law Library serves the public welfare through participation in cooperative efforts to collect, access, and preserve information at the regional, national, and international levels. This includes founding memberships in the Legal Information Preservation Alliance (LIPA) and the Law Library Microform Consortium (LLMC).

Additionally, the Law Library:

  • develops, manages, and stores collections in an expanding variety of formats;
  • facilitates use of collections using appropriate storage, access, and communications technologies;
  • preserves the information in the collections for present and future generations; and
  • aids and instructs patrons in the use of library resources.
With the exception of a small number of items in special collections, all library materials are on open shelves. Researchers have direct access to the materials which are arranged in Library of Congress classification order.
 

HIGHLIGHTS

The Law Library maintains a collection numbering in excess of 500,000 volumes and volume equivalents.  Highlights of the collection and the library include:

  • Comprehensive collections of Georgia and federal law;
  • United States government documents,
  • An extensive collection of United Nations documents;
  • European Union documents,
    • The Law Library is one of only 11 U.S. law school depositories for European Union documents;
  • A well-developed collection of foreign and international legal materials designed to support the LL.M. program, the Rusk Center, the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, and the work of several internationally acclaimed scholars who are members of the law faculty;
  • Digital Commons@Georgia Law, an online institutional repository;
  • Access to hundreds of online databases; the library also provides computers for use by the general public; and
GAVEL, the library catalog, allows patrons to search Law Library collections and link to electronic resources.
 

LOCATIONS

Main Floor [Map]

  • General legal material such as West's federal and regional reporters, American Law Reports, and law reviews and journals;
  • Current Georgia statutes and practice materials; and
  • Reference materials, such as directories and dictionaries, are located near the Reference Desk.

Balcony, which overlooks the Main Floor [Map]

  • Current works on American law and legal practice; and
  • Materials on comparative law and jurisprudence.

Basement [Map]

  • U.S. government documents arranged by Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification;
  • Foreign legal materials arranged by region and then alphabetically by country;
  • Materials on international law, the European Union, and United Nations documents;
  • Current and historic materials from Canada and the United Kingdom;
  • Older American law titles and superseded works; and
  • Institutional archives and the published writings of the law faculty.

Annex [Maps]

  • State materials including current and superseded codes and state reporters; practice materials for selected states;
  • Superseded Georgia statutes and practice materials, continuing legal education materials for Georgia, and monographs focused on Georgia law.

Rusk Center Library

The Rusk Center houses our Louis B. Sohn Library on International Relations. The core of materials in this special collection was a gift to the Law Library by Louis B. Sohn, a distinguished lawyer in international law and former professor.  His involvement in the formation of the United Nations, work in maritime law, and interests in global peace, international relations, and human rights are reflected in the character of this collection
 

For more information, view our Collection Development Policy