Renovating & Reinventing Our Law Library

Latest Renovation News

We’re OPEN! Come check us out!
 
 

We’re OPEN!

After one year of renovation, the downtown San Diego Law Library is open with full services.

Come check us out! We’re proud of our new building and customer service model.

Join us for daily tours at 10am or call to make special arrangements (619) 531-4436.

Stop at the Information Desk and pick up “A Guide to the Renovated Library” for quick tips on collection changes and new technology. Questions? ASK US!

Not downtown? We have three other locations to serve you.

What to Expect When we Reopen at 1105 Front Street

Our downtown location has been closed for nearly a year. We’ve been busy changing the physical structure, planning for new technology, reviewing and relocating our collection, and learning a new service philosophy to better serve our users. We can’t wait to show you!

Changes to the Building:

• New plumbing
• New electrical
• New Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system, including ducts throughout the building
• Windows cut into face of building on Front Street, 1^st and 3^rd floors
• New metal signage on Front Street with new library name and motto
• Painted signage created on C Street for more visibility
• Redesigned ADA compliant restrooms
• New ADA compliant restroom on the 5th floor
• ADA compliant building entrance
• New conference room spaces created on 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th floors
• Computer area created on 1^st floor with ADA access
• Reconfigured staff spaces on 1^st and 3^rd floor
• Staff storage areas on each floor
• Copy Center created on 1^st floor near Reading Room
• Structural changes in 1^stfloor stacks for study areas and microform collection
• History Wall honoring contributors to San Diego’s legal legacy
• Donor Wall highlighting private contributions for the renovation
• New floor, wall, and ceiling surfaces
• New reading room furniture with built in electrical plugs for laptop use
• New modular furniture in training rooms for easy classroom and event configuration
• New space lighting in reading room and stacks

New Technology:

• New patron computers
• Wireless access to internet throughout the library
• Electrical plugs conveniently located in reading areas
• New Computer area with electronic screen and ceiling mounted projector for classes & events
• Conference rooms supplied with electronic displays, DVD players, polycom phones, and easy to use touch panel controls.

New Services:

• Combined Circulation and Reference area for more efficient customer service
  

  Reading Room

• Roving Customer Service staff
• Communication Centers with dedicated staff to answer phones, email, and respond to social media inquiries
• Copy Center with ability to make color copies, scan to USB or email, print from USB, fax and feed multiple pages
• New conference rooms of various sizes for rent to the public
• Patron Catalog Terminals conveniently located on first three floors
• Photocopiers centrally located on first three floors
• Customer Service courtesy phones located on each floor for faster service

Collection Changes:

• Signage for major collections in the reading room and stacks
• California Practice Collection in the reading room
• Lounge area with popular legal magazines
• New self-help collection located near the Information Desk
• Reference collection now accessible to public in open shelf area
• Superseded and historical material now readily accessible on 4^th floor
• New collection arrangement, the 2^nd & 3^rd floor materials are now in proper call number order
• Microformcollection now in one convenient area with microform reader, 1^st floor stacks
• Archive collection of San Diego historic legal materials, located in special area on 5^th floor
• Government document collection is now fully integrated into the collection in call number order
• Circulation changes: most of collection will now circulate and loan rules are being changed at all branches for library-wide consistency