LAW LIBRARY CORNELL LAW SCHOOL
REPORT FOR ly4Q-ly4l
LAW LIBRARY CORNELL LAW SCHOOL Report for ltf40-41
The Law Library has spent a profitable and success ful year.
I call It profitable In the sense that we have
created many opportunities for saving money In our appropri ation by the careful purchase and trading of books.
Some
times the amount Involved appears to be small, but at other times It is large.
The total, however, is satisfying and
allows us to have some books In our collection which we otherwise could not afford.
I believe It 1ms been a success
ful year beoause our library is gradually molding Into a more workable unit.
We are constantly trying to arrange books so
that a person may find the law with the least amount of effort.
We constantly receive comments that our library Is
very usable, and it appears to be much appreciated from that point of view. We have added a number of periodicals and reports in our faculty library which is located on the second mezza nine floor.
This appellation clings to this collection from
the days of Boaruman Hall when this material was located in the hallway by the faculty offices.
Numerous additions of
books have been made In several Important fields of law. Auxiliary copies are also obtained where the use demands that we supplement our sets. Our oolleotion has increased 8,8*8 volumes, of which 383 volumes were gifts.
We also received an additional
1,864 volumes as gifts some of which will be kept for auxil足 iary purposes to replaoe volumes In our oolleotion when they are worn.
In some Instances they will supplement our regular
oolleotion.
A majority of theee gifts will be used for
trading and exchange purposes arid will not be aooeasioned. Our library Is growing very nicely and at present has a total of 85,813 volumes, plus those in our duplicate oolleotion. We have been able to obtain a few expensive treatises and statutes during the past year.
This has been
accomplished only after a gooa deal of figuring and negotiat足 ing so that we could purchase them as reasonably as possible. Personal friendships made at law school and law library con足 ventions have assisted us a great deal In effecting consider足 able economies and savings. STATE AND FOREIGN REPORTS After several years of negotiating and planning success has finally been obtained In completing exchanges with libraries whereby we will obtain, indefinitely, Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia Supreme
2
Court Reports*
We have always had to purchase these at
regular prices, which amounted to a large expense.
In some
instances we can supply our side of the exchange from our duplicate material.
Success has been obtained in several of
the states due to friendships which have been established by personal acquaintances.
We have also been able to purohase
state reports at local prices in California, Iowa, Ohio, and Oregon at a saving in eaoh volume.
A substantial saving is
the net result. Important additions to our collection are the pur ohase of a copy of the reprint volume of the 1833 hew York City Hall Reporter arid the reprint of Volume 4, hew York qj_v 11
Procedure Reports, new series.
Ihls latter volume was
discovered and reprinted due to some research whloh we made in this field. We were also fortunately able to purchase Volumes 88-137, inclusive, of the British and Foreign State Papers and Volumes 1-Ba, Tasmanian Reports, with our special library fund. GIFTS We have had a very productive year in securing 1,8B4 gifts.
Our annual appeal to the alumni which is inÂ
cluded in a letter containing the annual bill sent to the members of the Cornell Law Association brings increasing
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results.
I am pleased to enumerate the following more im
portant gifts: Charles K. Bardie* Estate, approximately BOO volumes of periodicals and textbooks. Louis Dawson, ’lJ, Mutual Life Insurance Company, New Xork City, do cases of books containing approximately oOO volumes of periodicals, session laws, and statutes. Goodwin, Nixon, Hargrave, Middleton & Devans, Roonester, New York, 7 oaBea of books containing approx imately 500 volumes of textbooks and oasebooas. Bernard Flexner, New York City, o volumes of complete reoord of the Saooo-Venzettl Case. A. Lawrence Abrams, *28, Binghamton, New York, 82 volumes of textbooks. Louis Pierce, Rochester, New York, 40 volumes of New York Session Laws. Harry V. Clements, *04, Auburn, New York, 48 volumes of old English text. William F. Fowler, *08, Lynbrook, New York, volumes New York Reports and textbooks, many of these belonged to the library of the late Ernest W. Huffout. William E. Beloate, *80, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, 4l volumes of statutes, etc. Professor Paul J. Kruse, Ithaca, New York, la volumes of casebooks. Flovd W. Mundy, Jr., New York City, 83 volumes of Mundy'a Earning Power of Railroads and Studies in Securities. Morris P. Glushlen, *31, Washington, D. C., a complete set of the Deolslons and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board with continuations. Morris Goldstein, *15, Buffalo, New York, 100 volumes of texts and reports.
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B&lph Gregg, *38, Buffalo, New fork, several FACT booklets of the Better Business Bureau. Edward J. Elliott, *88, New fork City, 3* Issues of Cornell Law Quarterly. Elmer H. Lemon, *18, Newburgh, New York, 41 volumes of Laws of New fork. We had a splendid example of assistance to our library during the past year.
We have constantly attempted
to secure looal material from friends and alumni. q I*
Our file
the University of Omaha Night School of Law Bulletin,
which was published from 1*33 to 1*87, had never been com pleted, nor could we purchase the one issue which we lacked, Mr. Laurens Williams, *31, attempted to secure this for us in Omaha but without success.
He wrote letters to friends
and as a last resort advertised in the looal legal paper and then in the Nebraska Supreme Court Journal.
A person in
Seward, Nebraska, saw the advertisement and sent the desired Issue to Mr. Williams who, In turn, gave It to us. pletes our file so that we may bind It.
It com
This periodical may
be minor, but It is only representative of the detail In volved In completing a number of them.
Our collection of
legal periodicals is so complete that we exert every efrort to keep it at Its present high standard. A splendid and much appreciated gift was made by Professor Gustavus B. Robinson of Volumes 1-13, Modern
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Philosophy Series.
Some of these volumes are now out of
print and Impossible to purchase.
This gives us two complete
sets. EARL J. BENNETT SESSION LAW COLLECTION we have made some Important additions to this col lection.
There hag always been the need of the early Rhode
Island Session Laws between the years 17*7 and 1800. been impossible to obtain original ooples of them.
It has A reprint
was made of these years ago and now the reprint has become scarce.
We never have been able to afford the reprint.
We
were made a special offer and fortunately were able to pur chase the 18 volumes at a reasonable price by oomblnlng the Income from the Bennett Fund (#233.75), the George J. Tansey Fund (#472.83), and the balanoe (#8*.42) from our regular appropriation.
This Is the largest purchase that has been
made for this collection and allows us to complete the Rhode Island Session Laws from the beginning of the colony to the statehood. We have also been fortunate In securing folio volumes.
three
One is the Acts of Assembly passed In the
Province of Maryland containing the laws from 1882 to 1715, printed In London by John Basaett, 1723. by exchanging duplicate material.
This was obtained
Another Is the Laws of
the State of North Carolina by James Iredell, published in 17J1.
It is the first compilation of laws of North Carolina
after its statehood.
The third is the Aots ana Laws of Hie
Majesty's Colony of Connecticut In New England, 175a.
It
contains a revision of the laws and also contains a reprint of the laws from October, 1750, to May, 17o8, and original folio session laws from October, 1758, to May, 1771.
These
are scarce volumes and fill important gaps in our collection. PERIODICALS Several new legal periodicals were published during the year.
They are:
Alabama Lawyer Defense Foreign Commerce Weekly International Reference Service Journal of the Brooklyn Bar Association Jurist Legislative Briefs Legist Loyola Law Review Monthly Review - Railroad Retirement Board News Bulletin of the Iowa State Bar Association Railroad Retirement Board - Law Bulletin La Revue de Barreau de la Province de Quebec
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Our most noteworthy accomplishment in this field during this year was the completion of our file of the New York Law Journal. umes for years.
We have lacked several of the early vol They are very soaroe and it is extremely
difficult to locate them.
A few years ago we were fortunate
in finding a few voluaes.
We secured the remaining volumes
in the gift from Mr. Dawson of the Mutual Life Insurance Company.
This gives me a feeling of extreme personal satisÂ
faction. The American Journal of International Law is out of print in several volumes.
With generous help from our
Professor 0. K. Robinson and the Charles k. Burdick Library we collected a large nucleus for a second set.
We traded,
purchased and negotiated until we completed an entire second set which has been pound.
As an entire set it is worth a
substantial sum of money. After much persistency and work, we have succeeded in completing our files of the Bulletin of the National Tax Association, Houston Bar Journal, University of Omaha Night
School of Law Bulletin, and The Pleader.
We have had to
have photostatic copies made of some issues, but we arrange for these on a gratuitous basis through the local utility company which does some of this work for us in exchange for some favors we can do for them.
a
Important collections have
been added to our eets of The Annals of the American Academy of Polltloal and Social Solence, and Trusts and Estates. The most Important development In this field Is the oolleotlon and binding of more than 150 volumes of duplicate periodicals. collection* law reviews.
These have been placed In our faculty
We have already gathered the principal leading We collect these volumes by exchange and gift.
We invest very little except to purchase an Issue or two in order to complete a volume.
The need ol this collection is
becoming acute as our regular sets are wearing out.
Legal
periodicals are becoming scarcer as the years go by.
We
have to loo* ahead and realize that the constant and heavy service that is made of regular volumes will ultimately call for replacements.
This Is the purpose in view, as well as
supplying a need for law reviews on the seoond mezzanine. The war has oast upon us the additional burden of searching for Issues which do not arrive.
We have been sucÂ
cessful so far in completing our volumes, but there is always great detail necessary in searching for them. BAH ASSOCIATION REPORTS We have added several Inexpensive reprints of some early reports of various bar associations.
This has perÂ
mitted us to oomplete our collection In a few states. have Kept puce with the ever increasing number of bar
We
association Journals,
The Integrated bars have resulted In
two bar associations* reports in some states, the old volun tary bar association having continued.
This means reports
from each organization which we have had to locate. ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORTS AND OPINIONS Our collection in this field is very good. *eep paoe with the new volumes as they appear.
We
We have
gathered a very useful set. JUDICIAL COUNCIL REPORTS We began our collection of reports in this field in its infancy.
We have collected every report of the
various state Judicial Council reports.
This has been
accomplished through our research in this field arid seeping it up to date.
Our published material is a guide to what
should constitute a complete collection of reports.
A gradÂ
uate student who has worked in this field during this year has congratulated us on the completeness and usefulness of our material. There has been no organized attempt to make available Information as to what a law library should have In the field of federal Judicial oounclle and oonferenoes.
a
federal conception of Judicial oounolle has arisen ae well a. state judlolal oounolle. the past.
Some reports have been made In
Under the new federal statutes the various federal
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Judicial circuits are now required to have annual oonferenoes. There is also the newly created position of Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
We are at present col
lecting every published address given at these conferences, every report of the proceedings, and reports of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. $6 will ultimately have a complete collection in this library.
It will be one of the few in the country.
Material
will be available for an article in this important and rapidly growing field. RAILROAD AND PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION REPORTS We have collected a large amount of material in this field.
We are ready to publish our research showing
the development of the various state railroad and public utility commissions, their ohanges, and their present status. Our oolleotion has bsen made with our rassaroh as the basis. TAX COMMISSION REPORTS "State Tax Commissions —
Their History and Reports
has appeared In Installments In the monthly Issues of taxes, a national legal periodical published by the Commerce Clear ing House.
Each Installment oontalns a complete report on
at least one elate.
It Is a fundamental study and .111
ultimately cover all of the states and territories of the
United States.
We are building our collection on this
foundation and feel that It is becoming outstanning and provides an excellent background for all of the various state tax statutes. governmental administrative departments
The growth of these departments lias been tremendous. It has required a good deal of worn in keeping up with their studies, services, bulletins, orders, decisions, and opin ions, and various publications by them.
We feel that we
have done this and have a fine collection. CATALOGING A year of accomplishment has been recorded in our cataloging department.
We had hoped to have some competent
N.X.A. assistants during this year, but the quality has not been good.
Student complications and distraotions have
practically eliminated what little extra assistance we had for our regular oataloger. alone.
She has carried on practically
The proximate number of books in our library whion
are cataloged to date are 77,*16. a, 5 ^
books cataloged.
During the year there were
Necessary Information for cataloging
books has been taken on 1,000 volumes. tinuations cataloged is 1,003.
The number of conÂ
Temporary oards have to be
included in the catalog awaiting official Library of Congress
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oards, and 414 temporary cards were typed.
The number of
Library of Congress cards included in our collection during the last year was 3,088. headings typed here.
All of these printed cards have had
Also, l.isOtf oards have been typed for
our oatalog and l,e58 oards have been filed during the past year. During this year we have completed the cataloging of the Bennett Collection of Session Laws and Statutes and the entire periodical collection. Room is about completed. date.
The International Law
Current cataloging is kept up to
We are doing all that can be done in order to provide
a complete and accurate catalog,
w© hope that it will be the
beginning point for information in our library. Our oataloger also publishes the monthly list of new accessions and includes in that the leading articles appearing in current law reviews.
A copy is distributed to
each member of the faculty * EXHIBITS An exhibit for our Heading Room for the lb4l Com mencement period will be prepared.
We will take this oppor
tunity to display some interesting class pictures, portraits, and valuable old volumes.
In the past the display has been
very favorably reoeived.
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MISCELLANEOUS The following miscellaneous items are complete and stand as valuable accomplishments in our library during the past year: There ha8 been a need for a complete set of the rederal Anti-trust Decisions and the Treasury Deolslons under the Internal Revenue Laws of the United States,
we scoured
the Federal Anti-trust Deolelons from the general Library on permanent loan.
We found that they did not have a complete
oolleotlon of the Treasury Decisions - Internal Revenue. They very Kindly loaned us what they had, and we will under take to purchase the missing volumes. Our table lights In the Reading Room have been re placed with modern lighting.
This change has been received
with much gratitude by the students. We have had requests for proceedings and reports of various stats constitutional conventions. that there Is no collection on the oampus.
I have found We have under
taken during the past year to secure a. many volumes as we can in each state by exchange or gift. have a very fine oolleotlon.
W. hope In time to
This material Is absolutely
necessary to anyone who Is doing research In law.
As the
years go by the earlier material Is becoming very difficult to obtain.
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We have had requests for Legislative Journals.
I
find that there la no collection of these on the campus for any state other than New ¥or&. any of these volumes.
We cannot afford to purchase
We are locating those that we can by
exchange or gift and hope ultimately to have the nucleus of a collection. ®e have ma.de a complete inventory of our duplloates. Every item Is listed on a oard.
We are no« preparing dupli
cate lists whloh we hope to eend to various la. llbrarlee for exchange purposes.
This should produoe great benefits
to us slnos some of the volumes oan be liquidated for oash. We have aleo made a oomplete Inventory of the library of our former dean, the late Charles K, Burdlox.
.<e
typed lists of all the boohs, periodicals, circulated them, and assisted In liquidating those that could be sold. I felt tl.at a study should be mude of the various opportunities presented of purchasing varicus current state statutes, revisions, compilations, and codes.
Purchasing
problems which arise are the competing companies In each state, obtaining in-state and out-of-state prices, the cost of hasping these eete up to date, and ho. annotations may be obtained for them.
All of this information has been pub
lished and comprises the May, U A , U * . of the haw library Journul.
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We have oiled, greased, and repaired 3,000 volumes during the past year.
This treatment adds to the appearance
of our Reading Room and Keeps the hooKs in muoh more usable condition.
V/e have received several comments about the fine
condition in which our boohs are Kept.
This expenditure
saves us ultimate repairs. PERSONNEL Our staff has managed its responsibilities during the past year.
One Improvement in the future which should
be made is to have a full-time mature person in the Reading Room who Will have complete charge and eole responelblllty of maintaining and taking oare of referenoe requests and keeping aooount of the many duties In the Reading Room In a more buelneee-llke manner.
Of oouree, nothing can oe none
until economic conditions Improve,
we have found by e v i Â
dence that student assistants at the Control Desk do not do the work completely satisfactorily. APPROPRIATION We are able to get along on our limited approprlatlon and are grateful for what we have curing these trying times.
As a matter of record, however, we should say there
is no law school library In the country, that I have found of our sloe, that operates on as small an appropriation as we have.
The increasing demand for the expense for loose
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x,ÂŤf services, the steady flow of new treatises and textbooks cause us much figuring in order to keep up with our needs.
activities
It was my privilege last summer to attend the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries at Toronto.
It was an opportunity to receive help in a
number of law library problems.
It was also an opportunity
to make new friendships and to renew old ones.
This is an
extremely important thing in our work since it enables us to obtain reports, periodicals, seeelon la... and man, other items from many parte of the country on exchange or gift which we otherwise would hot obtain.
It repays us many time,
over for what financial Investment we maae.
I have served
a. President of this association during the year laaO-Iuel and will preside this month at the annual meeting at Old Point Comfort, Virginia., I also had the privilege of attending the annual meeting of the Association of Amerloun Law Schools In December.
We had a mid-winter meeting of our library assoÂ
ciation at the same time.
It afforded me an opportunity to
mist with our Executive Committee and officers as well as to attend some of the round tables on legal and law library problems.
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X express my very sincere appreciation to the entire law faculty and to members of the Law Library Committee for their cooperation and help.
Each member of my library
staff has been very conscientious and has done excellent work.
Without this assistance we could not have had as sucÂ
cessful year. Respectfully submitted,
June 11,
Lewis W. Morse