Last year, the American Bar Association unveiled its traveling exhibit, 100 Years after the 19th Amendment, celebrating the work of suffragists who fought for women’s voting rights. The Pence Law Library was scheduled to host the exhibit last fall, but because of the pandemic, will instead host the exhibit September 20-30, 2021.
“The centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment gives state and local bar associations, lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, educators and civic organizations the opportunity to celebrate 100 years of women’s constitutional right to vote, to educate the public about the Nineteenth Amendment and the battle for women’s suffrage, and to promote law that ensures women’s full and equal exercise of their right to vote and to participate in our democracy,” says the ABA.
WCL’s history is intertwined with the suffrage movement. Founders Ellen Spencer Mussey and Emma Gillett were both active in the movement, and suffragists Alice Paul and Mary Louise Bottineau Baldwin were early graduates of WCL.
This Women’s History Month, the Pence Law Library celebrates the achievements of WCL suffragists and other notable alumnae who fought for women's equality.
Learn more about the suffragists and voting rights activists featured on our social media pages:
Mary Ann Shadd Cary Collection
Racial Justice & Diversity Resources: This guide, created by Access Services Librarian Khelani Clay, contains library and internet resources that cover a number of issues related to the racial justice movement, including information on policing and mass incarceration, disparities in health and environmental justice as well as information on slavery and the civil rights movement to provide some context for the issues herein. There are also pages with information on understanding and addressing racism and resources for getting involved and advocacy. Use the tabs at the top of the guide to navigate through the resources.
Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project: "Many of us are asking ourselves what we can do as Black law deans, women law deans, LGBTQ law deans, people of color law deans, allied law deans, and deans with varying intersectional identities to address the malady of racism and the assault on black bodies. The AALS is taking various steps, including the curation of this webpage, to respond to racism in the United States, a scourge that threatens both our democracy and the rule of law."
Books from the catalog:
How to Be an Antiracist by 
Backlash by 
How to Be Less Stupid about Race by Don’t let your hard work go to waste! Join librarians and Prof. Snyder for a workshop on the best strategies for getting your note/comment or seminar paper published in an outside publication. We’ll talk about finding journals or other publications that may be interested in publishing your work, writing high quality, publishable papers, and ways the library supports you through the submission process.
Date: Wednesday, February 3 at 11:00 a.m.
Zoom link: https://auwcl.zoom.us/j/8710409308
Questions? Contact Adeen Postar
It’s exam time! The library subscribes to multiple study aid platforms, including Quimbee, CALI Lessons, West Academic Online Study Aids (Nutshells and many other titles), and Wolters Kluwer Online Study Aids (Examples & Explanations and many other titles). View a comprehensive list here: https://wcl.american.libguides.com/studyaids. Be sure to follow the instructions for accessing each type of study aid.
Questions? Email reference@wcl.american.edu.
**Effective December 3, 2020 until December 23, 2020**
Research services are available by emailing reference@wcl.american.edu Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. 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.
Study Space Reservations: All semester-long study reservations (law school and library) ended on November 30th. Beginning December 1st, there will be open reservations available in the library for WCL students. Deadlines to sign up for a study space are Sundays at noon for reservations on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and Thursday at noon for reservations on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The first deadline for study space reservations is Sunday, November 29th. The study reservation periods remain the same: weekdays from 9am to 2pm and from 3pm to 8pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 5pm. This system remains in effect through Wednesday, December 23rd, unless there is a change in WCL’s health and safety policies based on changing COVID conditions. Questions? Contact Khelani Clay or Adeen Postar. Sign up for a space here.
Library Service Appointments: These appointments are still available. They are for one hour on a specific day and are designed to allow students to visit the library to access or scan materials or to perform other research-related tasks (e.g., you could sign up for Monday, September 14 from 10am to 11am). These appointments must be reserved no later than noon the day before they will be used (and by noon on Thursday for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday reservations). Sign up for an appointment here.
Students who need to check out a book from the general collection may do so through the hold feature in the catalog or by emailing our circulation desk. These books will be available for pick up in the Yuma Street entrance where the printers are (there is also a book drop there to return library books). Please do not return a library laptop or charger to the book return; contact circulation to make arrangements to return those items.
Please review the Operating Policies before visiting the law library.
The library and SBA are partnering to offer a limited number of hotspots to students who can demonstrate a need for better internet connectivity. Complete this form no later than Tuesday, November 17 to be eligible for a 6GB hotspot from T-Mobile. Questions? Contact Adeen Postar.
AUWCL students may sign up for study spaces in the library.
Sign up through the LibCal system, available here.
Join reference librarians for a Zoom research workshop focused on the Legal Rhetoric open memo assignment. Talk to librarians about getting started with your research and efficiently finding the best sources on Westlaw Edge and Lexis+. There will also be time for Q&A.
Zoom link for all sessions: https://auwcl.zoom.us/j/8710409308
Workshops will be held:
In addition to reaching your reference librarians by email, chat, and phone, you can now drop by our virtual reference desk. We’ll be staffing our reference Zoom room from 12:00-1:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. This service is available to all members of the AU/WCL community: faculty, staff, students, and alumni. This is a great opportunity to talk about in-depth research projects or troubleshoot database problems.
Join us here: https://auwcl.zoom.us/j/8710409308
Make sure you're registered to vote! We've created a guide on registering to vote and requesting your absentee ballot: https://wcl.american.libguides.com/voting.
Welcome and welcome back to a most unusual semester!
The library will open on Friday, August 28th. Access to the library is limited to 50 students at a time, presently allocated to those who completed the application sent last week indicating their need to use the Commons, the cafeteria or the library as a place to study. We will, however, continue to offer reference services by email and chat. Students who are approved to use study space in the library and in the cafeteria or the Commons will be notified.
Students who need to check out a book from the general collection may do so through the hold feature in the catalog or by emailing our circulation desk. These books will be available for pick up in the Yuma Street entrance where the printers are (there is also a book drop there to return library books). Please do not return a library laptop or charger to the book return; contact circulation to make arrangements to return those items.
We know that many of you want to use the library’s casebook collection in our closed reserve area. Beginning Tuesday, August 25th, you may make reservations to visit the library for one hour to scan limited pages from your casebook. From August 25-28, up to five students will be admitted to the library at a time to do this. After that, only one student will be admitted to the library at any time to scan materials. We also have installed a book sterilizer that will enable us to disinfect books in 5 minutes, allowing us to make the reserve collection available to you.
Please review the Fall 2020 Operating Policies before visiting the law library.
Join WCL's Lexis representative, Mikiel Singh, for an overview of the new Lexis+ platform. These sessions will familiarize students with the over 10 new and enhanced features of the upgraded research platform. The examples that will be covered should also be a great refresher on legal research.
August 11th at 9 am – Zoom meeting: https://relx.zoom.us/j/96601229097
August 13th at 12 pm – Zoom meeting: https://relx.zoom.us/j/92068471908
August 19th at 9 am – Zoom meeting: https://relx.zoom.us/j/91622421213
August 21st at 12 pm – Zoom meeting: https://relx.zoom.us/j/92994950966
We are very happy to announce that although WCL and the Pence Law Library remain closed, the law library will begin limited services on Thursday, July 2nd and will continue these services Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 am and 3 pm. Library staff will check out print materials, receive book returns, and scan materials. To make a request, use the catalog or email circ@wcl.american.edu. Please note that at this time reserve materials may not be checked out, and we are unable to scan pages from casebooks. All scanning requests must comply with copyright laws. You will receive an email when your books are available and to arrange to pick them up at designated times.
Interlibrary loan may also be available for books and materials that are not in our collection. Email us at ill@wcl.american.edu with your request, but please understand that many libraries are still closed and this service may either not be available or may be very slow.
WCL students have access to thousands of e-books, journals and periodicals, so be sure to check our holdings in the library catalog or our e-titles finder (for e-books and journals) before you make an ILL request.
Need help with your research? Contact our reference librarians at reference@wcl.american.edu.
Congratulations, AUWCL class of 2020!
May graduates have access to all library databases until September 1, 2020. Use our A-Z Databases list to access all databases and login through the proxy server with your AU username/password.
Free Westlaw access for 18 months after graduation. Go to lawschool.westlaw.com to extend your account and access Westlaw Edge, Practical Law, Practice Point & more.
2020 graduating law students will have unrestricted access to Bloomberg Law through June 1, 2021.
Free, automatic Lexis Advance access until February 28, 2021.
Free, remote access to the HeinOnline Law Journal Library and ABA Law Library Collection Periodicals & the Fastcase federal
and state case law collection via Hein (access through the link on your CareerLink homepage).
Once we reopen, call us or stop by the circulation desk for an alumni library card so that you can check out materials from the library.
Reference librarians are happy to help alumni with research. Contact us at reference@wcl.american.edu or 202-274-4352.
Visit our Alumni Services page.
Pence Law Library's Summer Research Resources
This guide contains information on using library resources for your summer employment and academics.
Check out our WCL exams database!
http://wcl.american.libguides.com/c.php?g=563289&p=6828069
Access past exams using your MyAU login information. A great way to review for your exams is to read through old ones!
Don't just free fall, stop by the library to get help with your open memo research from one of the reference librarians.
Room N100C (library training lab).
Mon 10/21: 12-1:00 pm
Wed 10/23: 12-1:00 pm
Sat 10/26: 2-3:00 pm
Mon 10/28: 12-1:00 pm
Wed 10/30: 12-1:00 pm
(We can also help with Bluebook citations).
Pence Law Library
From October 7th through 11th, the law library is hosting 30-minute research workshops related to the open memo problem. Librarians will talk about search strategies and how to find sources using Westlaw Edge. All workshops will be held in N100C on the first floor of the library.
Sign up for a session here: https://forms.gle/ovdBUTMkfLtk1aQN6
Hours
The library is staffed until midnight each night and is accessible 24/7 to the WCL community. Just swipe your ID card for after-hours entry.
Study Aids
The library provides free electronic access to the following study aids:
Casebooks & More
The library has copies of all 1L casebooks and select upper level casebooks on closed reserve for three-hour checkout. Ask for your book at the circulation desk.
Borrow laptops, chargers, standing desks, bookstands, umbrellas, and more from the library.
Group Study Rooms
To reserve a group study room:
More Library Info
For more information about library services, visit the library’s website.
Questions?
Contact Shannon Roddy, Student Services Librarian