Library Resources for Michigan Law Students: Go Underground

Secret to Success

A quiet place to study. A scan of a book chapter. A room to meet with classmates. A topical study guide. A laptop charger. The Law Library is here to provide you with all the little amenities that add up to success in law school.

Waiting for you in the Law Library:

• Text-searchable scans of books and journals, sent to your email inbox
• Hundreds of open seats in the quiet Underground Library, exclusively reserved for law students
• Reservable group study rooms to meet with classmates or study buddies
• Phone chargers, laptop stands, and other gadgets available for checkout
• A team of lawyer-librarians here to help you navigate the muddy waters of legal research

Your Local International Library

The Law Library seeks to provide a complete, worldwide collection of primary material, and a research-level collection of secondary and research resources. That means whatever the body of law, historical era, or global jurisdiction you are researching, the Law Library can support your work.

In Your Hands or On Your Screen

The Law Library collection is the second largest library on campus, with 25 miles of bookshelves, and that's just the beginning. We also have hundreds of thousands of electronic titles, with more being added all the time. These are books you can read from the comfort of your study space--wherever that might be.

Loans Not Limits

If the book or journal article you need is not on campus, you can still count on the Law Library. Request an item through your Interlibrary Loan account, and the Law Library staff will have it delivered to your carrel shelf, your email inbox, or the Circulation Desk.

The Michigan Law Library does not circulate its collection, meaning that most books and other materials are not permitted to leave the building. This is to ensure that the book you need is available and obtainable whenever you need to do research.

The Library is happy to send high-quality, text-searchable scans of book chapters, journal articles, and other materials upon request so that you can read and re-read at your convenience. Just use the yellow "Request a Scan" button on each catalog record.

As an MLaw student, you have access to the U-M undergraduate, graduate, and other libraries. See this research guide for more information about using the various libraries across campus.

This guide was created and updated by Michigan Law Reference Librarians.