AUWCL Students, Faculty & Staff

The Pence Law Library is open to the AUWCL community 24/7 by card swipe.

Circulation Desk Hours: Click here to view the weekly schedule

Members of the Public

The library is open to members of the public, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Public patrons should enter the law school and register at the Warren Information Desk. Public patrons may also obtain research assistance by emailing reference@wcl.american.edu.

Research & Reference Desk Hours (virtual):

Requests received outside those hours will be answered the next business day.

You may also schedule a research consultation outside those hours by emailing reference@wcl.american.edu.

Noon Zoom Room: Monday through Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., the reference librarians have drop in Zoom hours available at https://auwcl.zoom.us/j/8710409308.

Contact the reference librarians by phone (202-274-4352), email, or chat.

The library is divided into different noise zones: silent study, whispered conversations, and collaborative spaces. Please be courteous to your classmates and use the appropriate zone for your study needs. If you need to collaborate, reserve a group study room or use the Commons. 

Food and drink are again permitted in the library, but please act responsibly when consuming food and drink in the library. Please dispose of your trash and be courteous to your fellow students. 

The library has all 1L casebooks and some upper level casebooks and texts on closed reserve. Students should ask for them at the circulation desk and may check them out for 3 hours at a time. The library does not have electronic versions of casebooks available. The library will only copy/scan casebook and textbook readings on faculty request, not for individual students.

Wolters Kluwer, now called Aspen Learning, provides a Connected E-book code for most of their casebooks when students buy them new.  Students can also purchase Connected E-books for 40% off the cost of the print at https://www.casebookconnect.com/connectedeBooks.

West Academic provides you with free, temporary eBook access to all West Academic and Foundation Press® books adopted at AUWCL for the coming semester.  Your free eBook access begins the week before classes start through the first two weeks of the semester.  
Follow these instructions to get temporary eBook access and 15% off eBook purchases for continued access.
In addition to the free eBook access, you will find digital access to study materials that accompany your casebook including a complete collection of subject-specific study aids, an outline starter, and multiple-choice quizzes with informative explanations.

Most, if not all, casebooks are also available for rent or purchase as used copies. 

Students, faculty and staff can sign up for individual digital subscriptions to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times through the library.  Follow the directions on these pages to sign up, using your @american.edu email address.

Reserve group study rooms (on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the library and in the Commons) here.