DEANNA BARMAKIAN: Hi there.
My name is Deanna, and I'm one of the reference librarians
here at the Harvard Law School Library.
We really wish you could be here in person with us,
but we hope that this virtual tour will give you
a sense of our spaces, our collections, and some
of the amazing services that are on offer here at the Harvard
Law School Library.
The Harvard Law School Library is the largest academic law
library in the world.
We are the largest by collection size.
We're also a very large building.
We have about 175,000 square feet in Langdell Hall.
We're fully integrated with the Harvard University Library
system made up of 70 libraries on campus.
And all of those materials are available to you
with your Harvard ID.
You can either physically visit those libraries,
or most of their materials can be brought here on your behalf
here at our circulation desk.
So this is the first stop on our tour.
And here at the circulation desk is
where you would have reserve materials, study guides.
But we also check out things like charger cables,
board games, sporting equipment, pretty much anything you need.
It's also a one-stop shop for a lot of questions.
And everyone really wants to make sure that you find and use
our materials.
So this is our next stop.
This is an example of one of our beautiful open study spaces
and collaboration areas.
The library is open to the entire campus community.
But during the fall and spring exam periods,
we do close off the library so that it's only
for the use of law students.
This area is open 24/7.
So hopefully you're home in bed each night
for eight hours of sleep.
But if you are a late night person,
this is available as a very brightly lit and comfortable
study space.
We have over 500 seats in the library,
so there's plenty of room.
In the library, we have seven group study spaces
that you can book for up to three hours a day.
We also have phone booths in this area in case
you want to have a quick chat home.
We also make coffee and tea available in two
different spots in the library, and they're
always fully stocked.
So we're here at our next stop.
And you can see that we have these beautiful carrels
with power, and they do have lighting.
There are almost 100 of these throughout the library,
and they're first come, first serve.
You've probably noticed by now that there's
huge open areas of our library.
So you might be wondering, where there's this big collection
that I was mentioning?
We store 3/4 of our collection in off-site storage
housed in museum quality air control, light filtration.
It's fireproof.
Our collections are very well cared for.
And they have a one-day turnaround.
Our collection is absolutely vast.
80% of our collection is foreign, comparative,
and international law.
So if you have any interest in historical materials,
comparative materials, foreign law,
this library is really unrivaled.
So we're here in the area where I usually work.
This is the reference department.
This is our reference collection that you're seeing.
And we have about nine people in our department.
Most of us have JDs and information science degrees.
We support the full research needs
of the campus, but especially the law school,
including our 67 programs and clinics,
17 student-run journals, the faculty, visiting scholars,
visiting researchers.
People come to use this collection
from all over the world.
We have basic reading knowledge of about 10 languages
in our department.
We also have specialists outside our department
who do Japanese law, Chinese and East Asian Law,
and people who handle our Islamic law collection.
We do individual research consultations.
Anytime you're getting started with a research project,
we're happy to sit down with you.
We also take questions all day long through an email queue.
We do reference by chat and by text.
So here we are in our beautiful reading room.
It's an absolutely exquisite room.
It runs longer than a football field.
We have our beautiful high ceilings, Latin inscriptions.
It's very atmospheric.
It's very Harvard.
It's a very popular place to sit and work.
Behind me is a portrait of Christopher Columbus Langdell
for whom the building is named.
He was our first dean, appointed in 1870.
He was really the person who put in place
many of the mainstays of legal education that we know today.
KAREN BECK: Hi.
Welcome to the Harvard Law School.
My name is Karen Beck.
I'm the manager of historical and special collections.
And we're standing here in what is known as the Root Room.
This is the historical special collections reading room,
and it's named for Elihu Root who was an early 20th century
leader of the Bar.
This is where researchers come to use our special collections,
our rare materials.
And this is one of the amazing distinctive features
of the Harvard Law School libraries collections.
We have hundreds of thousands of rare and early law
books from all jurisdictions.
We have hundreds of handwritten materials from the Middle Ages
and beyond.
We have illuminated examples of the Magna Carta.
We have 11,000 feet of manuscript collections.
These are collections of scholarly papers
that have been donated to us over the decades.
And they represent a fantastic treasure trove of the history
of areas of law, of legal study and legal teaching,
and particular individuals like Supreme Court justices.
We're also responsible in historical and special
collections for all the art that you see
on the walls in this building.
So our collections are fantastic resources
for students and scholars who want
to look at the historical angle of really any area of law.
So here we're standing in the Caspersen Room.
This room was named in honor of Finn Caspersen who
was an alumnus of Harvard Law School
and a great philanthropist.
This beautiful room is our showpiece location
where we have classes, receptions, parties,
and where the dean hosts dinners for the incoming 1Ls
every fall.
So you will get to see this room and have
dinner in it yourselves.
Up on the walls, we have a number
of portraits of important law school figures.
We have a portrait of Joseph Story who was an early faculty
member, very important member of the Harvard Law School
community and the youngest Supreme Court Justice ever.
He became Justice at 35 years of age.
So maybe you'll be able to beat that, some of you.
We have a rotating series of exhibits in this space.
At the moment, we have Japanese legal materials,
including some medieval scrolls dating from the 12th century.
Also on the wall we have a portrait of the first Harvard
Law School Class of women.
From a handful back in the early 1950s, our class of 2019
features 51% women.
So Harvard was a little late to the ball game,
but we have definitely made great strides.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We hope you enjoyed the tour.
DEANNA BARMAKIAN: And on behalf of everyone here at the Harvard
Law School Library, we look forward
to seeing you next fall.
Thanks.
KAREN BECK: Bye.