We are one of the few public law libraries throughout the United States that allow our materials to circulate. Unlike regular City & County libraries, our materials are narrowly focused (specific to the law) and costly (costing $30 to $400 per volume).

In San Diego County, we are the only public resource for access to legal materials. We feel it is important that the community have the opportunity to use our print materials at home and access some databases remotely.

However, it is costly to purchase print materials and licensing agreements for remote database use, process the materials into our catalog, purchase & upgrade software to track borrowers, and have staff available to administer a borrowers program. Thus, we need to charge for this service to help recover costs. We hope you enjoy this privilege and thank you for supporting our ability to circulate materials.

Check Out Materials In-Person

The Downtown location is open limited hours for in person services and circulation of materials.

Pick-Up SDLL

Our Pick-Up SDLL book circulation program allows you to reserve items and check them out. Books will be ready to pick-up at the Information Desk.

Renewals & Fines

Use your library card and our online renewal system to view & renew items. Note that you cannot renew an item if another patron has placed a hold on the material.

Overdue fines accrue at $2 per day, per item.

Room Reservations

As an added benefit, we now offer our Borrowers up to 4 free hours of conference room usage. Please see our Room Reservation System for details and to reserve a room.

NOTE: We will block your account when fines reach $10, or when any fine is 90 days old. You must pay the full fine to unblock the account. If you are experiencing a financial hardship and cannot timely pay your fines, or if you have other questions, please send us an an email at membership@sdlawlibrary.org

As a Borrower you have access to the following:

  • Check out materials according to the Borrower level purchased
  • Request interlibrary loans from other libraries (extra charges apply)
  • Remote access to some databases, see our Databases page for details under the Home column
    • CCH AnswerConnect
    • Gale California Legal Forms Library
    • HeinOnline
    • National Consumer Law Center
    • Lexis eBooks – San Diego Digital Law Library
    • Trellis
    • Wolters Kluwer VitalLaw
      • All remote access databases are subject to change due to licensing and funding.

We offer two different borrower levels to suit your research needs:

Borrower Categories Annual Borrower Charges
Borrow 1 item at a time for 4 days with one 4 day renewal

$50
Borrow up to 5 items at a time for 4 days with two 4 day renewals

$75

Borrowers who are not San Diego County residents must also provide a $200.00 deposit to open an account.

Please view our Borrowers Rules for more in-depth information on our Borrowers Program.

San Diego Law Library YouTube Channel:

Additionally, check out these videos on San Diego Law Library’s YouTube channel.

How To Pay Charges on your Account Using Koha and Paypal

How to Renew Items in the
GiLL Catalog

GiLL Catalog Tutorial:
How to place a hold