As you settle in, we’d like to remind you all of our Library’s food policy. These guidelines are in place to protect our Library’s collections, equipment, and furnishings, as well as to maintain a pleasant and clean environment for everyone.
While dry, nonperishable snacks are permitted in the Library, other types of food are not allowed. Specifically, please avoid bringing meals, hot foods, foods with strong odors, messy foods, or any food that requires utensils.
If you do bring food that isn’t allowed, you will be kindly reminded of the policy and asked to relocate to areas designed for dining that offer a comfortable place to take a break, such as the cafeteria on the fourth floor, the student lounge on the first floor, or the courtyard.
The BLS Library staff welcomes new and returning students to school for the 2024-2025 academic year. We are here to help in whatever way we can with your print and electronic use of the Library.
You may borrow reserve and circulating books from the first floor Circulation Desk. Also, there are now more ways than ever to ask for reference and research assistance from Reference Librarians.
Visit the Reference Librarian on Duty in the third floor Nash reading room
Chat: Visit the library homepage and click on our chat icon (see below) – or get started by clicking here – you’ll be chatting with a friendly librarian in no time!
Good Luck in the fall semester! We look forward to seeing you in the Library!
As we approach the start of a new academic year, I’m excited to welcome our new students and welcome back our returning students on behalf of the library team, who have been busy preparing to support your success in the months ahead. Below you will find important information about casebooks and study aids to help you get ready for your first week of classes, ensuring you start the semester on the right foot.
CASEBOOK INFORMATION
Current editions of required print casebooks adopted by BLS faculty & many print study aids are in BLS Library’s first-floor“Reserve”collection. Students can borrow these sources for 2-hours at BLS Library’s first-floor circulation desk. The circulation desk is staffed starting at 8am M-F, and availability of adopted course texts is often good on early weekday mornings. Also, the BLS student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild organizes a textbook exchange, and BLS students can contact this chapter at nlg@brooklaw.edu
If your textbook publisher is West Academic or Foundation Press:
Brooklyn Law School opted in to West Academic’s Early eBook Access Program. This program provides BLS students free, temporary access to adopted West Academic and Foundation Press ebooksone week before classes start and for the first two weeks of class. It is designed to help with any inventory, shipping, financial aid, or drop/add period issues. Access is available starting today.
“If students would like to continue their access after the trial ends, they have the option to purchase a discounted eBook on their bookshelf.A 15% discount will be applied at checkout and all notes and highlights will appear when they sign in.”
If your casebook publisher is Aspen Publishing:
Aspen Publishing created aBLS-specific purchase portal, so that all BLS students (not just those new to Aspen) can obtain a 15% discount on their orders of educator-selected Aspen course texts, regardless of format.
If your purchase your Aspen text using this portal, you will receive temporary access to the digital copy while you await delivery of your physical copy.
You can purchase your course materials by searching a course number or a professor’s name, clicking on the “View Course Titles” button, and adding the corresponding products to your cart.
In order for this discount to be applied at checkout, create an account on Aspen Publishing.com using your BLS email address, then verify the BLS email address. (No coupon code needed.) Verification is most often done at the time of creating an account but can also be done on the My Account page when logged in. Any unverified account will see an “Email Address Not Verified” warning on the My Account page.
If you experience any issues, Aspen Publishing.com provides both “Visit Our Help Center” and “Contact Us” links (near bottom of web page).
Note: This portal facilitates purchase of current editions of Aspen course texts. If your professor has selected a previous edition of a course text, the discount is not available using this portal.
STUDY AID INFORMATION
BLS students can also access a digital collection of many study aids in Aspen Learning Library(In BLS Library’s SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION – (ASPEN)).
Tip: Remote access to Aspen Learning Library requires implementation of the BLS proxy server instructions for one web browser. Librarians recommend implementing the proxy instructions for Firefox.
This Thursday (April 11) at 1 pm on the first floor of BLS Library, BLS Reference Librarians/Adjunct Professors of Law Loreen Peritz and Sue Silverman will offer a program on free sources for legal research. To accompany their program, Loreen Peritz also created this publicly-accessible research guide: Sources of Free Legal Research. Knowledge of reputable free sources can help you to conduct cost-effective research. Refreshments will be served at this program!
Also, our staff noticed that the two bulletin boards for student announcements of BLS events (located outside of BLS Library’s Nash reading room, by the third floor main elevators) were often overflowing with notices. So, there are now additional bulletin boards for your announcements. There are signs on the two center bulletin boards stating: This Week: Events. BLS students can place announcements about the current week’s BLS events on these two central boards. Students can place signs about BLS events occurring farther in the future (or events that might not have a specific date) on the additional bulletin boards.
Below is a description of a free, half-hour Zoom program tracing the history of languages in New York City. This program requires free online registration. Note: BLS Library is purchasing multi-user electronic access to Ross Perlin’s new book, Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York. (We expect the vendor to provide us with access to this ebook within a few days.)
The description of this program at New York Historical Society’s website states: “Four centuries ago, what had been a Lenape-speaking archipelago suddenly became New Amsterdam—a crossroads of Native American, European, and African cultures. Here, 18 languages were reported as being spoken within the first few decades, and the number is likely far greater. Join Ross Perlin, author of the new book Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, and Russell Shorto [director of the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society] as they trace this history of language and how it set the template for the city’s extraordinary transformation into one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world.”
Also, New York Historical Society has a new installation: New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam. New York Historical Society states it offers “pay as you wish” admission on Friday evenings from 6-8 pm. (NYHS generally charges students $13 for admission.) Also, beginning on April 1 at midnight, those with Brooklyn, New York or Queens Public Library cards will be able to try to reserve one of the limited number of free “Culture Passes” offering free admission to New York Historical Society. (Each month, a new group of Culture Passes becomes available.)
Note: BLS librarians have created 50+ research guides to support your work, and we encourage you to submit your research questions through email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu and text: 718-734-2432.
King: A Life (2023) by Jonathan Eig (call #: E185.97.K5 E44 2023, location: Main collection)
Excerpt from author’s website: “The first King biography written with access to thousands of recently released pages of FBI files as well as thousands of personal papers from King’s associates and friends.”
Excerpt: “Dr. King’s mission was a moral one: from bridges and ballot boxes to pulpits, protests, and courthouses, he courageously stood for the sacred idea that embodies the soul of our Nation — we are all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. He vocalized that idea on an August day in 1963 when he told our Nation about his dream. He saw that idea realized for many Americans with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ushering in a new era of greater equality and opportunity in our country. That work is not yet finished. It is the task of our time to take up Dr. King’s mantle and make his dream a reality.”
We understand that some students will be working remotely during the BLS Winter Recess (Dec. 22 – Jan. 2). We recorded our BLS Library presentation on how to prepare to access digital books, encyclopedias and databases from remote locations. The recording of this presentation is now available in Canvas (within BLSConnect). The Canvas “course” is: Librarians’ Research Presentations > see module: Material From Librarians’ Alcove Academy Presentations > click link: Librarians’ Presentation: “Preparing for Remote Research During Winter Recess.” A key point was: email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or text: (718) 734-2432 soon for help identifying and collecting sources to use during Winter Recess.
Thank you to those who attended! We always appreciate your feedback on the library/our services, and we look forward to providing you with research suggestions.
Lenape Center is a nonprofit organization that states it is “[c]ontinuing Lenapehoking through community, culture and the arts” and “[w]orking towards the creation of a cultural center.” Lenape Center’s work includes curating exhibitions (including the virtual exhibit Lenapehoking), developing educational programs, and creating Lenapehoking: An Anthology. Brooklyn Law School Library, Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library provide multiple copies of this insightful and powerful book. On p. 14 of the Introduction, Joe Baker (Co-Founder/Executive Director of Lenape Center) states: “This anthology of essays and interviews features leading Indigenous scholars, culture bearers, and artists offering important new scholarship and knowledge of Lenape culture and history that is not readily available to the general public.” On March 6, 2023, there was a “Live from NYPL” event at which contributors to Lenapehoking: An Anthology “explore[d] the personal journeys of people seeking welcome in their ancestral homeland while pushing back against their erasure.” This event video is available here.
This database includes: the subcollection Indigenous Peoples Treaties (400+ full-text treaties) and treaty-related publications; each edition of United States Code Title 25 and Code of Federal Regulations Title 25; the Indian Law Reporter (published: 1974-2013) and additional serials; a subcollection of tribal codes (published: 1981 and 1988); a subcollection of constitutions, acts and by-laws; selected Native Nations Law & Policy Center publications such as The Need for Confidentiality within Tribal Cultural Resource Protection and Tribal Implementation Toolkit; Model Tribal Probate Code; nearly 50 federal legislative histories; Congressional hearings; scholarly articles; other related works (books and pamphlets); and a bibliography. This database is accessible on campus through the BLS network or off campus through a web browser that communicates with the BLS proxy server. The library team hopes this database will assist BLS students in the spring 2024 seminar: Native American Law. Feel free to email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.eduor text: (718) 734-2432 for help in using this new resource.
The American Law Institute describes itself as “the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law.” From the bedrock Restatements on contracts, property and torts to the influential Uniform Commercial Code to the current project on Children and the Law, ALI’s legal experts have crafted (and continue to develop) key documents to aid courts, legislatures, agencies and law teachers/students. As ALI celebrates one hundred years of codifying and developing law, BLS librarians are proud to note that ALI’s history is Brooklyn Law School’s history. Many BLS current and emeritus faculty are ALI members: William D. Araiza, Miriam H. Baer (Vice-Dean), Anita Bernstein, Dana Brakman Reiser, Neil B. Cohen, James A. Fanto, Marsha Garrison, Andrew Gold, William E. Hellerstein, Alexis J. Hoag-Fordjour, Edward J. Janger, Beryl R. Jones-Woodin, Roberta S. Karmel, Brian A. Lee, David D. Meyer (President and Dean), Samuel K. Murumba, Norman S. Poser, David Reiss, Alice Ristroph, Elizabeth M. Schneider, Winnie F. Taylor, Aaron D. Twerski and Joan G. Wexler (Dean and President Emerita). We invite you to view a display highlighting ALI and BLS faculty’s work on noted ALI texts and projects in the third-floor Nash reading room.
BLS patrons also can review the texts featured in this display through HeinOnline’s American Law Institute Library (a subscription database accessible on campus through the BLS network or off campus through a web browser that communicates with the BLS proxy server).
On Monday at 6 pm, BLS Professor Andrew Gold and his co-editor Robert W. Gordon (Professor of Law Emeritus, Stanford Law School) will lead a book talk and discussion in the BLS Subotnick Center on their new work: The American Law Institute: A Centennial History. As noted in its introduction, this book is a collection of essays on certain ALI undertakings. Essay authors include a number of current and former Reporters involved in Restatement projects. The chapters raise questions like: What does it really mean to “restate” the law? How does a Restatement change the direction of law? Chapter 5 has the intriguing title: “Canon and Fireworks: Reliance in the Restatements of Contracts and Reliance on Them.” BLS patrons can access a digital version of this book on campus or off campus through the BLS proxy server.
