Welcome back to a new school year.

We, at the Bora Laskin Law Library, do hope that you and your families are bearing up during these difficult and strange times. Although Library staff have returned to work, it is in a limited, part-time, and staggered basis in order to do those things we cannot do remotely. During our shifts in the Library, our priority is our staff safety as well as your own. For the most part, we continue to work from home but are available as normal if you have any enquiries, needs or concerns. Please see here https://library.law.utoronto.ca/about-library/library-staff-directory for who we are and how you can reach us. 

I know that not all law students read e-mail so we will be posting this information on a variety of social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) as well as our website. 

I’d like to pass along some information about how the Library will operate in the fall. For the 1Ls this is new to you but you’ve already been getting a flavour of the new normal at Bora. For the returning upper year and grad students things will be a little bit different so please take note. 

Library Hours:

The Library will be open to law students only and operate at reduced hours for the fall term.

Monday-Thursday              9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Friday                                  9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Saturday                              10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Sunday                                 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

 

The Print Collection:

All stacks in the library including the short-term loan collection are closed to users. This is due to two important reasons. First, to ensure that books are not contaminated by improper handling. Once touched, a book needs to be quarantined for 4 days. Second, the University of Toronto has negotiated an Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS) agreement with HathiTrust. This means that during the U of T library closure due to COVID-19, current students and faculty can access digitized versions of the library’s in-copyright print books that have been deposited in the HathiTrust Digital Library.

The HathiTrust ETAS access has been confirmed until December 2020, provided that all of our libraries continue to meet specific requirements, namely that: 

  • All library stacks in the University of Toronto library system must remain closed to users
  • All libraries in the University of Toronto library system must limit loans of print materials to curbside pickup only, and limit loans to items that are not in the HathiTrust ETAS collection. 

Access to the Law Library print collection:

Students can request Law Library books via the Online Catalogue https://search.library.utoronto.ca/index. Find your book(s) then while in the catalogue record, click the “Get Help” button and follow the prompts. Library staff will retrieve the print material from the stacks. You will be notified via e-mail when your requested items are available for pick-up. For print-only course reserves and short-term loan items, library staff will endeavour to scan and deliver, via e-mail, portions of the book to the extent permitted by copyright law.

Access to the UofT Library print collection:

To retrieve print materials from other UofT libraries the Robarts Library has implemented a Curbside Pickup Service. See link below for details: 

https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/news/curbside-pickup-now-includes-gerstein-and-downsview-books-and-technology-access-services

Changes to Book Circulation Policies: 

Loan period: Books will be charged out for the term and have a due date of Dec 18, 2020 (subject to recall).

No renewals: Due to the extended length of the loan period there are no renewals of outstanding material.

Recall of books: If a book is out on loan, you can no longer place a hold on the book using the online catalogue. To place a recall request please e-mail our Circulation Coordinator:  anna.szot.sacawa@utoronto.ca 

Reference and Research support:

Law Librarians are available to provide reference and research support remotely. They will not be doing in-person consultations this term, but can meet with you by phone, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom or can respond to your questions by email. Please contact them directly or through law.ref@utoronto.ca. 

Please see the staff directory (https://library.law.utoronto.ca/about-library/library-staff-directory) for contact info. 

Electronic Resources and eBooks:

The Law Library subscribes to a significant number of electronic resources (see: https://library.law.utoronto.ca/electronic-library). In addition to these databases, we have purchased access to a large number of eBooks published by Irwin Law, Edward Elgar, LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters and recently acquired access to approximately 60 titles from the Emond Publishing Casebook collection. If there are eBooks that you need for your research please let us know (law.ref@utoronto.ca) and we will endeavour to acquire access. 

Group Study Rooms: 

Study rooms in the library will again be available for online booking (https://library.law.utoronto.ca/book-study-room) to UofT law students only, as in the past. However, the rooms will be left unlocked, and FOBs will not be required for entry. It is expected that students adhere to physical distancing protocols and that masks be worn at all times when using the group study rooms. 

Little things that the Library no longer provides:

Unfortunately, we can no longer provide some of the little things that made your life easier in the past. This includes laptop and phone chargers, staplers, pens, pencils, markers and dry erasers (for the study room whiteboards), and earplugs. Please bring your own.

That’s our news for now. As we progress through term we will continue to provide details and updates.