Students still seeking access to Law Library

In the past, students have regularly used the Biddle Law Library for its multitude of resources -- or just to study in what many consider one of the most beautiful facilities on campus. But over the past year, many of them have been shut out of the Law Library, due to a policy that limits the access non-Law students have to the library. The current policy allows unrestricted access for Law students, but other graduate students and undergraduates can only use the Law Library if they require its unique resources for a University course. Faculty from other schools within the University who assign work that requires materials from the Law Library can obtain unrestricted access for their students by sending a student list to library officials. Students who need to use part of the Law Library's collection on a short-term basis must speak to a reference librarian, who will either grant them access or refer them to a different University library. Law Library Director Elizabeth Kelly explained that the policy change came after Law students complained of overcrowding. "Our own students couldn't find space," she said, adding that many students from other schools were using the Law Library's study spaces primarily as a study hall. Kelly noted that the Law Library is completely funded by the Law School and therefore does not receive any University money. "We tried to take the needs of the University into account," Kelly said, citing the admittance of students with class requirements. Law School Dean Colin Diver said he would support an open policy if the library's limited space could accommodate everyone who needs the resources as well as "those who simply want to use our library as a study hall." "We have an obligation first to provide services to our students," he added. But third-year Dental student Amar Kosaraju, who serves as president of the Dental School's student government, said he firmly disagrees with both the policy and reasoning behind it. Kosaraju said he has never been unable to find a seat in the Law Library, though he admitted that the site is usually crowded before major exams. Kosaraju also said he thinks the "One University" concept should translate into giving students access to all University facilities. Kosaraju added that regardless of the funding issue, the Law Library should be open to all Penn students, "as long as they take the Penn name." Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Paul Mosher took a similar stance, noting that the University needs "cooperation, not walls." "Our opinion is that the information resources of the University should be an intellectual commonwealth equally accessible to all of the University students and faculty," he said. The Law School Council of Student Representatives Vice President Juan Martinez said he was one of the Law students who originally complained about the overcrowding problem. "If I'm going to be paying for a library, I'd like to be able to use it," Martinez said, emphasizing that Law students' tuition finances the Law Library. He added that before the new policy, Law students were very frustrated when there were no open seats in the Law Library, especially when they had to study for an exam. "If you need to make priorities? it only makes sense that you need to serve your students first," Martinez said. As a representative of the approximately 100 Dental students who live in the grad towers, Kosaraju also objects to the policy for safety reasons. He explained that unlike the Dental School Library, which is located at 40th and Spruce streets, the Biddle Law Library is only half a block from where he and the others live. Diver said he recognized that safety concerns are even more significant this semester, noting that the Law School administration will participate and cooperate in any University-wide safety initiatives related to the school or the Law Library. But he added that he did not find the safety concerns a "convincing justification," to open the Law Library to everyone. He noted that a majority of students would choose to use the Law Library only because of its beauty and quality study space. Kelly said that focusing on the Law Library as a way of solving the safety issues on campus would "frame the problem wrong." Provost Stanley Chodorow said he will meet with both Diver and Mosher in the near future "to cooperate in working out a resolution."

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