The leading legal lights of the post-Gold Rush days petitioned the California Legislature in 1870 to create the first public law library in the state, the San Francisco Law Library. The library became a model for the statewide county law library system and one of the premier public law libraries in California through its collection, services and assistance to lawyers, law firms, judges, governmental agencies and the public. The future of the S.F. Law Library is now in doubt: It must move by May 2013 when its building closes, but no space has been secured nor have funds been committed to provide for the library.
The city and county of San Francisco is legally required by its charter and state law to provide quarters sufficient to meet the law library’s needs. However, there are strong indications that the city proposes to save space costs by reducing the collection, seating, staffing and other resources. There is even a perception on the part of some city officials that the law library is not needed at all “because legal information is available on the Internet.”
The Law Library Space Crisis
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