— Graduating Students
As you begin your preparation for the Bar Exam in July, please take note of available options for study spaces.
NYLS:
Library spaces, as well as other spaces in the NYLS building complex, will be open through the summer for Bar study by our graduates. Our old library building at 240 Church St. will close permanently sometime this spring or early summer. But this will coincide with the opening of new study spaces on the 7th floor of 40 Worth St. We do not anticipate any significant disruption of available study spaces during our move from 240 Church St. to the 7th floor. The spaces elsewhere in NYLS will be more than adequate to accommodate our graduates.
After finals, the Library is open reduced business hours through May, and closed over the long Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29. Our summer business hours begin on May 30: We’ll be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every weekday, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every weekend. The only exception is the Independence Day holiday, July 1 – 4, when the Library will be closed.
Beyond Library spaces, NYLS keeps several areas open 24-hours, 7-days, including the Independence Day holiday. These areas are the Stiefel Reading Room; the C Building Cafeteria area (though there is no sale of food;) and the Student Lounge, computer labs, and vending areas in the basement of B and C Buildings.
All NYLS study spaces are air conditioned, and we will make every effort to keep them free of noise or other disruption. To gain access, please make sure to bring your NYLS ID card to show the security guards.
OTHER OPTIONS:
You’re probably aware that our library has reciprocal agreements with certain other local law schools’ libraries that allow our students free use of those libraries. But these agreements do not apply to our graduates. Thus, if you wish to use another law school’s library for Bar study this summer, you may have to purchase a pass.
If you wish to use to another law school’s library for Bar study, you must contact the other library directly. Most local law school libraries charge other schools’ graduates for a Bar study pass. The typical charge is $50. Some graduates will find it most convenient to study at the library of the law school that is hosting their Bar review course. If this is your situation, then you should contact the library of your course’s host school immediately, as the number of passes being sold may be limited.
We have been advised that the law libraries at Pace in White Plains and St. John’s in Queens will be under construction this summer. Pace’s library will not be open to graduates of any other school, while St. John’s is selling just a limited number of passes. If Fordham’s law library is the most convenient place for your Bar study, you should contact Kristen Vissers at 212-431-2350 to inquire about access to that facility. We will be collecting the details of other schools’ policies as they are made known to us. You may inquire with our Reference librarians about these details, and about how to contact the other schools.
Finally, if you are employed by a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, you may gain access to this association’s law library in midtown for Bar study. If this applies to you, you should contact Janice Johnson at 212-382-6739.
If you have any questions regarding summer Bar study options please call the library’s Reference librarians at 212-431-2332, or you may e-mail reference@nyls.edu.
Bill Mills
Associate Librarian