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Borrowing Books & Materials

Borrowing Books & Materials

Generally, treatises, monographs, DVDs, and documents may be checked out by Georgetown Law students and all Georgetown faculty and staff. Materials that do not circulate include:

  • Reading Room and Reference materials (except from the William’s Popular Reading Collection)
  • Primary materials (e.g., statutes, treaties, court reports)
  • Periodicals
  • Microforms
  • Looseleaf services
  • Materials labeled Library Use

Georgetown Law students may check out books from the general collection for six weeks, reserve materials for three hours, and umbrellas, videotapes, and DVDs for three days. However, the Law Library reserves the right to recall materials sooner than these loan periods to meet operational needs.

Georgetown Law students, faculty, and staff can also borrow books from Georgetown’s main campus Lauinger Library, the Dahlgren Medical Library, and from several local academic libraries that are part of the Washington Research Libraries Consortium. You can request and have main campus and WRLC books delivered to the Law Library through the library catalog, or you may visit the main campus library to borrow their books. You may submit a consortium request by first finding the book via a Georgetown U. + Local Academic Libraries search using the library catalog. Once you find consortium-owned material that you wish to have routed to the Law Library, log into the library catalog with your NetID and Password, and click Request From a Local Academic Library under How to Get It. Complete the form and click Send Request once done.

If we do not own the materials you need and the desired material is not available through the consortium, try Interlibrary Loan. If a Law Library book is checked out, missing, lost, or at bindery, you may also request it through the consortium, if available, or through Interlibrary Loan, if not. ILL requests are made through the ILLiad system.

Other Georgetown and Capitol Campus members should use Lauinger Library’s HoyaSearch or Dahlgren’s Document Delivery service to request materials from the Law Library collection. Please note that Georgetown undergraduate, graduate, and Medical students need pre-approval to access the Law Library building. They should submit a request at least three (3) business days in advance for a research need (Student Access Request).

Borrowing privileges are not available to members of the Law Library Membership Program, Friends of the Law Library, and visitors.

Reserves & Course Reserves

  • Reserves Collection & Cool Stuff is held at the Williams Circulation Desk. Law Center faculty, staff, and students may check out reserve materials for a period of three hours. After returning the materials, they can be checked out once more after 30 minutes to allow others the opportunity to use these items.
  • Course Reserves are held only at the Williams Circulation Desk and can be checked out for three hours.
  • Reference materials, recent Study Aids, and all federal and state materials located in the Robert L. Oakley Reading Room cannot be checked out and must be used in the Reading Room.

Paging Service

While searching the catalog, if you see a general collection title that is Available, click on Place hold for pickup. Submit the form, and the item will be retrieved from the stacks for you in one to two business days. You will be notified when the item is available for pickup. A paged book is held for about seven (7) days before it is returned to the stacks.

Search Requests

Can’t find the book on the shelf? Go into the online catalog, search for the book title, and confirm the location, call number, and status. If the book is listed as Williams Stacks or INTL with a status of Available and you can’t locate the item in the stacks, submit a missing book search request. The Law Library staff will search for the item over the next few weeks and will let you know via email if we find it. In the meantime, you should request the title from Interlibrary Loan. Please contact the Williams Circulation Desk if you have any questions about the location of an item.

Renewals and Recalls

Renewing Your Checked-Out Items

  • Heed all courtesy reminder notices that are emailed to you.
  • Renew your Law Library materials online through My Law Library Account to avoid fines.
  • Renew materials checked out from local academic libraries (consortium libraries) to avoid fines.
  • Visit or call the circulation desk for questions or assistance.
  • Most materials can be renewed three times unless recalled by the Law Library.
  • Note: Items borrowed through Interlibrary Loan must be renewed through your ILLiad account.

Recalled Items & Recall Notices

  • The Law Library reserves the right to recall a loaned item to meet operational needs.
  • The due date of a recalled item will be revised to an earlier date than the one provided at check-out.
  • Patrons will receive an email indicating when an item has been recalled and providing the new due date.
  • Patrons will have a one-week grace period to return a recalled item.
  • Fines will be charged if a recalled item is not returned by the revised due date.