A major renovation to the Lederman Law Library this summer will improve study and service spaces for students.

The renovation will streamline the library to occupy two floors instead of three, with the main floor featuring new open study space, study rooms, adaptive technology space and a new washroom.

The Faculty of Law will take over the ground floor, which currently stores print journals that are to be relocated. The reconfigured space will combine individual study spaces and additional meeting rooms for law students.

“Expanding study spaces will support our growing enrolment,” says Bill Flanagan, Dean, Faculty of Law. “Not only will students have more individual space for studying and conducting research, they will have additional meeting rooms to use for moot court program and other group work.”

Other highlights of the renovation project include:

• Air conditioning and enhanced ventilation to accommodate increased capacity.
• Larger and improved space for graduate students.
• Improved lighting and light flow.
• Improved accessibility.

The project will also include a new bannister for the third floor of the Lederman Law Library, which was the graduating gift of the class of Law’14.

“We are excited to partner with the Faculty of Law on this project because the renovation supports the Library and Archives Master Plan (LAMP) recommendation of retaining and strengthening the library as a laboratory for legal research and a valued sanctuary for study,” says Amy Kaufman, Head, Lederman Law Library. “The law library will retain its well-loved reading room and gain some lovely redesigned space for all students to use.”

The consolidation will require relocating some of the law journals currently shelved on the first floor. High-use or core print-only journals will remain in the law library and will move to the main floor. Other journals, now available online, will move to the library’s existing storage space in the basement of Stauffer Library. Extremely low-use print journals are destined for remote storage.

Law library staff will begin moving many of the journals destined for storage during reading week, Tuesday, Feb. 17-Friday, Feb. 20. The law library aims to have all of the material relocated from the first floor by the end of April 2015 so that construction can occur over the summer.

The main and upper floor of the Lederman Law Library should remain quiet during the move for students who want to study in the facility over reading week. All other campus libraries also remain open during reading week. If students can’t find material they require while materials are being moved, Lederman Law Library staff would be happy to provide assistance.

More information about LAMP, including concept plans for the redesigned main floor of the law library, can be found online.

If you have questions, contact Ms. Kaufman by email.