Law Library for Law Students!

The new Law School is a bright and beautiful new building for the study of law. The Law library however, is a severe letdown from the Law library at the old Phillip Street Campus.

There are constantly large numbers of non-law students, even HSC students, who make thelibrary their new hip location for study. The law library is not a lounge or coffee shop for the campus. It is a place where law students can access the comprehensive collection of law books, journals (which no matter how highly developed online databases, cannot be replaced) and study.

This is difficult to do if we cannot find a spot to sit or a quiet one once it becomes available. The open and free use of libraries for all is a noble aspiration, however, currently, it is nothing more than a large study hall/computer lab and legitimate users cannot access its resources comfortably in peace and quiet.

Please sign this petition to let the Law School and Law Library know that this cannot continue. One year of this travesty is enough. There is an abundance of library work space situated throughout the other libraries on camperdown campus, as well as study rooms in other faculty buildings. We simply ask that law students get to enjoy the peace and quiet and computer/study desk access that students in other subjects/faculties enjoy. The quality of other persons study will not be adversely affected by encouraging them to move to their own study areas.

I propose turnstiles to be installed to limit access during weekdays, and for them to be switched off at off-peak periods such as evenings and weekends. Several public libraries and university libraries, including the libraries of the University of Cambridge, have implemented such a system.

Automatic access should be granted to all Law Students, faculty, Legal studies students from the Faculty of Economics and Business (commercial law, tax law) and other legitimate users who apply through the library desk. Visitors should be approved on a case-by-case basis by the library staff.

Lets ensure that the attractivness of the library does not overwhelm function in as vital a resource as a library.