Cornell Law Library Annual Report 1938

LAT LZBRARI COHSSLL LAf SCHOOL

REPORT FOB I93t-1938

LAW LIBRARY CORK'LL LAW SCHOOL

3EF0RT FOE 1*37-1*38

The Law Library has experienced & successful and Interesting year for the fiscal period ending June 30, 1*3@« ^t has kept pace with the demands made by the unusual period •hioh our country Is experiencing.

Despite our limited funds

•e have made several inoortant additions to our fine working library,

We have had the good fortune of obtaining many Im­

portant gifts.

He have added 3,505 volumes to our collection dur­ ing the y*ar, Including 375 gifts.

A number of recent acces­

sions represent books which were added to the library years Ago but were never cataloged and have new been properly re­ corded.

Many other books have been received as gifts which

Are mentioned specific!*!!? In a latter part of my report.

"1th the exception of the Walker Collection, these have not keen accessioned as yet but will be kept for trading and ex­ change purposes,

he have added to oar fine collection of re—

Ports the following:

Circuit Court of Appeals Reports, 171

•olucies; American Bankruptcy Reports, a5 volumes old series, And 34 volumes new series; treasury Decisions, 76 volumes. have also added a number of current textbooks.

Through

Personal friendships made at law library conventions we have

been able to obtain many of these reports and textbooks at substantial discounts.

STATE AND FOREIGN REPORTS Substantial econo ales have been made in the pur­ chase of many of these volumes by making personal contacts *lth sources in several states where we could obtain the benefit of the local price Instead of paying the larger outof-state price.

Substantial economies have been made in the

Purchase of foreign reports as well as by changing sources °f purchase and having some bound by our local binder instead of having the publishers bind then.

Some of the subscrip­

tions for bound volumes such as the Solicitor's Journal have been changed so that we receive current weekly Issues provid­ ing U8 with better service for our library users.

GIFTS Among the 37b gifts special mention should be made °f the following: 44 mimeographed articles on Copyright Law from Benjamin Pepper, Esq.f Mew York City, class of 1320 Records of New Amsterdam, 1 o 53-1o 74, gift of Simon Rosenzwelg, New York City, class of 1323 Report of the New York State Constitutional Convention, 1336, 12 volumes, gift of the Mew York State Constitu­ tional Convention Seventeen volumes of the Cornell Law Quarterly and seventeen Volumes of the Columbia Law Review, many of which are bound, a gift of the widow of the late Clarence Gray Parker of Moravia, New York, are not included in this total.

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These

will be very useful In our auxiliary collection of legal per­ iodicals to supplement the volumes which are now in use.

Fifty-three volumes of miscellaneous duplicates were & gift from Fitch H. Stephens, Ithaca, hew ‘ fork, class of lu05. 'e hB.V6 already/copies of all of these volumes, but they can be used for trading purposes.

Hire# hundred seventy-five volumes of

miscellaneous boohs have been turned over to us from the lib­ rary of the late MynAerse Van Cleef, class of 1S74.

These

have been kept In the Tompkins County Bar Association library In the Savings Bank Building, Ithaca, flew fork, but under the terms of his will all books which are to be discarded from that library are to be turned over to us.

They are books

which we already have but they can be used for trading pur­ poses.

The largest gift which we received was what will be

kno-,m as the talker Collection consisting of some 2300 books, including some 1500 volumes of various Hew fork reports and the balance consisting of Federal Reporter, 1st and ~nd series, United States Reports, and other reports which will be very useful as auxiliary material.

These were given by

the family of the late Roberta mifeer, friend and partner of Austin Dufra.tt White, Cornell, 1820.

They will be preserved

*s & separate collection fcr auxiliary purposes. ire have been fortunate in securing bound volumes of the first and second drafts of the Hew Jersey Proposed Revision and Consolidation of Public Statutes through the kind help of Adrian Unger of Hewark, Hew Jersey, class of These are extremely scarce and were obtained only

&fter persistent effort. ^e hare been able to make some additions to o ir collection of session laws through the Sari J. Bennett Ses­ sion Law Fund.

$e have added re vision a and compilations for

*r*.&ns&s, Clalfornia, Illinois, Nebraska, and ’Washington, flie current session laws have been kept up to date despite the many special and extra sessions.

We have added current

revision and compilations for Arkansas, California, He« Jer­ sey, and Ohio as well as completing the set for Georgia and Oklahoma,

There is a permanent edition of the Michigan stat­

utes which has been published which we cannot afford to buy at present, but we have hopes of adding this to our collec­ tion when we can complete an advantageous deal.

PEBlOSICAhS The past year has found a number of new legal per­ iodicals being published,

w# have added the following titles:

&.B.C. Reporter (International Association of Indus­ trial Accident Boards and Commissions) Bulletin of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Schenectady Insurance Counsel Journal Insurance Law Reporter, -Montreal Journal of Criminal Law, London King* s Counsel Labor Standards Legal Chatter M o d e m Law Review

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Municipal Review National Lawyers* Guild Quarterly hew Coaaonwealth Quarterly The Shingle to Tit Trade Regulation Review Videlicet

He take particular pride in mentioning that the following periodicals have been completed after several years °f painstaking search: Journal of American Insurance Journal of the Patent Office Society Kansas City Bar Bulletin Legal Aid Review Medico-Legal and Crlainologleal Review %

have had to photostat at least 1300 pages of legal per­

iodicals which were out of print and were absolutely Impos­ sible to obtain in the originals.

A local personal friend

secured this photostating free of charge.

A saving of sev­

eral hundred dollars has resulted.

bar association sr.?a&T9 Our collection of these reports is very fine.

It

hag now reached the point where It is extremely difficult to locate the very few items which we need.

T;e were sxtreaely

fortunate, however, in locating the South Saketa Bar Associ­ ation Reports at a reasonable price which permitted us to

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complete our collection for ttiat state.

w® were also able

to secure a scarce Delaware Bar Association yearbook.

’%

Hare added a complete file of the newly published Texas Bar Journal to our already complete collection of Bar Association

Journals.

These bar Journals are gradually being included In

the Index to Legal Periodicals, and the fact that we have a ooaplele collection gives us great pride.

The early issues

^nd volumes of these are now searoe and practically lsaposslble to obtain.

ATtoassr is& m m *

reports ass opisxoiss

'”e have aade go^e Important additions to this col­ lection.

It has been aided largely through our work In con-

Plllng a "Historical Outline and Bibliography'1, which repre­ sents an exhaustive and complete reference in that field. *c have one of the better collections In the country•

Judicial council nsponrs h'e have kept up Vo date in this rapidly growing field.

believe our collection to be complete and hope to

Publish a supplement to our earlier check list at gone future tlsae.

Railroad, public utilitx, asp tax co^lissiok reports We have spent a great deal of tine in preparing an Accurate background and authoritative check H i t In these fields.

Our collection was very aeagr®, and we have had to

Prepare this list In order to build up these collections with

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*»y degree of accuracy,

We have made substantial progress

hope to publish our findings at the conclusion of our *©rk.

hay® secured complete .files of the reports of the

Kentucky State Tax Commission, Maryland Tax OotsBiIssion, Minne­ sota. Tax Commission, and coaplatecl our file of the Texas Railroad Oossieslon,

te have also made great progress in

starting our files for all of the other states.

These fields

change very rapidly, and for purposes of research it is abso­ lutely necessary to have an accurate understanding of what a&teriel has been published.

There is now no authoritative

&nd completely published material adequately covering these commissions and their reports. releases

We have secured many new government commission and W a r d releases and believe that we 'ave a practically oomPlete collection. ^ISCEUAEtoaS The following miscellaneous Itaas represent distinct ^hd valuable additions to our library: 1 . W® have coupleted arrangements for securing the Coords and briefs of each of the four Appellate Division De­ partments of Hew Eork State.

This present® a serious finan­

cial problem in addition to the task of collating the® for binding.

We are convinced that we cannot afford to bind all

°T them during each year as they appear, but we have the room to store them in unbound form until we can secure funds to

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have thea bound,

-e are convinced that they will make a very

Important addition to our source material.

3.

We have been working on an auxiliary collec

of sets of the leading periodicals.

This has been necessi­

tated by the fact that we have only one set of each of such Periodicals as California Law Review, Illinois Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Virginia Law Review, ®tc.

Cur periodical collection constantly receives a tre-

®en&ous amount of use and consequently the bound volumes are beginning to wear out.

It is with this in mind that we are

building up an auxiliary collection.

*?e are obtaining these

Item® through personal contacts and exchanges and have not been compelled to purchase any of them,

have secured over

SCO copies in this manner.

3. Law school examination questions from several heading la%- schools have been added to our already fine col­ lection.

4. Faring the past year 3,000 volumes have been 0ll«d, greased, and repaired saving us a substantial _ uount fbr repairs and rebinding and giving our Reading Peers & much better appsorance.

5. Recently a letter received, from' F. 1. Canaan of *be class of 1081 of Herlngtoo, Kansas, called our attention & rare item rrliich we have in our collection.

He remembered

the textbook "Atherley* s Carriage Settlement" while studying 1tm in the office of -erritt King of Ithaca, New xbrk.

Be recalled that the signature of Chancellor James Kent

appeared on the fly-leaf and trait on the blank pages In the front and back of this book In the handwrltln-* of Chancellor &ent were paragraphs relating to the property rights of mar­ ried wofisn.

These paragraphs were Included verba d o la the

00.5"-leted work of Kent*a Commentaries.

-e are fortunate In

possessing the library cf Merritt King and find that we still have this valuable book.

It gives us .great pride to know

that this volume was part of Chancellor Kent*% orlvite lib­ rary and was used In the postposition of * is great - _rk.f ^©nt*c Cosueatarlas.

CATALOGING During the past year our large collection of old textbooks has been cataloged.

They have been arranged alpha­

betically , and we have accessioned a large number of them and cards to be Included In our catalog for the firet time, inventory of the HeedInr Hooa has been partially cade in that we ray assure t! a accuracy and completeness of our oatalog.

Every effort is being exerted to a&ke our catalog

°02g>l*te and helpful. *h<* past year.

£35? books have been cataloged during

37'g temporary cards have been sade.

tinuation cards have been ssade.

20,871 Library of Congress

Gs-rde have been pelleted and pla.ee-? In the catalog* °*rds have been typed.

553 con­

10,135

Current cataloging Is kept up to date.

assistants have aided rat-riallv In this department. w» feel that substantial progress has been na.de as. Is IndlQ&ted by the large amount of work that ha# been done.

This

Apartment has been in charge of a very competent young woman

*ho is leaving us at the end of the fiscal year.

We hope

that her successor will carry on the fine work that she has done.

EXHIBITS For the last eowasneeaent period we prepared an ex­ hibit for our Heading Boom comprising things of special In­ terest to returning alumni.

This exhibit consisted of a dis­

play of many of our valuable and Important holdings.

We also

Included the publications of the members of our faculty.

There were many cosplIsaentary resarks about this exhibit and *e plan to have a larger one at this forthcoming reunion Period. *CRSCliJiEL The reorganisation of our personnel at the end of the last fiscal year has resulted in a much better wording staff for the library.

The increased demands that have been

s^ade upon us because of our growth and the material that must W

made available for the problem courses have been handled

in & highly efficient rsanner.

The decrease In the number of

student assistants at the Control Sesk from four to three has marked cut satisfactorily,

the old protista still persists,

kcwever, that student assistants are not the most satisfac­ tory persons to have charge of our Reading Roofa. creasingly evident as the years go by.

This is In­

There la always a

inflict among the assistants In adjusting classes and duties the desk which results in their drawing on our office force

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from ten to fifteen hour* of desk duty per week In order to permit these students to go to classes.

Students do not have

the proper Interest In the operation of the library since they are here primarily to get a legal education.

It la rare

that we find one with & proper appreciation of the library, and the necessary library instinct.

Other students take ad­

vantage of them, and It is unwise to leave a collection as fine as ours so largely in their control during the hours when the offices are closed.

We have reached the time when

»e should give consideration to the employment of & full time Assistant to have charge of the .leading Boom.

'BPBCPRIATIOK We are very pleased that our appropriation will be Increased 41000 during the cosing fiscal year.

This Is not

the increase that we should have, but it Is appreciated, nevertheless.

The increasing amount of material which we

«u»t obtain with its cost for animal supplemental services Causes most concern.

Our library has reached the size where

we cannot operate satisfactorily on the appropriation which *e have.

I believe that 413,DC0 per year would not be out of

proportion to our present needs aac some such sum will be ^luired if we are to retain our present rank.

* ecause of

our inability to moke substantial purchases we are gradually losing our position as one of the largest and beat law lib­ raries in the country.

Several law school libraries have

Expanded as a result of increased appropriations and are

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passing us on the total number of volumes.

Our growth is

slow and gradual as compared to the way that a number of other law school libraries are advancing.

ACTIVITIES I have had the privilege this year of serving as a ®*raber of the Committee on "found Table on Library Problems of the American Association of Law Schools and attended the meeting of this committee at Chicago in December.

I also

have served as a member of the executive committee of the

Association of American Law Libraries and acted as chairman °f a Committee on Indexing Bar Association Reports of that Association.

I plan to taste part In the Institute to be con­

ducted at the annual meeting of the American Association of Libraries in St. Paul this auaaiar.

In conclusion I express ly sincere appreciation to the membera of the Library Committee and tna entire law fac­ ulty for their cooperation and interest.

I also acknowledge

the fine work and undivided loyalty of each member of ay staff without which these projects could not .uave been accom­ plished, •iespeotfully submitted,

Law Librarian.

June 15, ly38

addendum

Special mention is made of the gift of 898 volumes of miscellaneous reports of cases, session laws, treatises, and periodicals by the Honorable Frank H. Hiecock of the class cf 1875.

'?hile these volumes are entirely duplications

of aaterial we already have, they will be extremely useful In replacing worn copies on our shelves providing additional volumes in the library and allowing us to use them for ex­ change purposes where they will be to our credit.

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