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. 

Honoring Voting Rights Activists

Learn more about the suffragists and voting rights activists featured on our social media pages:

Mary Ann Shadd Cary Collection

Mary Church Terrell Papers

Ella Baker Papers

Fannie Lou Hamer Papers

Anti-Racism Resources

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:

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.

Research services are available by emailing reference@wcl.american.edu Monday and Wednesday, 10:00 am -  8:00 pm, Tuesdays Noon to 6 pm, Thursday and Friday, 10 am to 4 pm,  and Sunday noon to 6 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

Sign up through the LibCal system, available here.

Under construction

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!

Library Access

The library is currently open 24/7 to current WCL students with their ID cards.  Visitors not affiliated with WCL or AU are not allowed to use the library currently.  Our service hours are posted at https://www.wcl.american.edu/impact/library/

Checking Out General Collection Materials

Check out your materials at the Circulation Desk or use the Hold feature on our online catalog.

Casebooks and Other Reserve Materials

We know that many of you want to use the library’s casebook collection in our closed reserve area.  

Please review the Fall 2022 Operating Policies before visiting the law library. 

Congratulations, AUWCL class of 2020!

Library Databases

May graduates have access to all library databases until September 1, 2022. Use our A-Z Databases list to access all databases and login through the proxy server with your AU username/password.

Westlaw

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.

Bloomberg Law

2022 graduating law students will have unrestricted access to Bloomberg Law through June 1, 2023.

Lexis

Free, automatic Lexis Advance access until December 31, 2022.

HeinOnline

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).

Alumni Library Cards

Call us or stop by the circulation desk for an alumni library card so that you can check out materials from the library.

Reference Services 

Reference librarians are happy to help alumni with research. Contact us at reference@wcl.american.edu or 202-274-4352.

More Info

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!

Library Research Workshops for 1L Open Memo

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:

• West Academic Online Study Aids: includes Nutshells, High Court Case Summaries, Gilbert Law Summaries, audio books (great for your commute!), and many more
• Wolters Kluwer Online Study Aids Library: includes Examples & Explanations, Emanuel Law Outlines, Glannon Guides, and many more
• Quimbee
• CALI Lessons (authorization code: AMERICstu4)

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:

• Login to MyWCL with your network username and password
• From the tool bar on the left, under the Pence Law Library, select Study Room Reservation System
• Select the room number, the day (the current day is expanded – scroll down to view other options for the current week), and the time you want to reserve by clicking on any time slot that says reserve
• A separate window will open with information about the room – select your time window using the drop down boxes and click save
• You can book up to 2 hours per day in 15 minute increments for the current week; you can split up the two hours in any way that fits your schedule
• You will receive an email confirmation indicating the room and time of your reservation
• Reservations you make will appear in blue, and you can log in and edit the reservation if your plans change
• If you have problems using the online room reservation system, contact mywcl@wcl.american.edu

More Library Info

For more information about library services, visit the library’s website.

Questions?

Contact Shannon Roddy, Student Services Librarian