1L Guide for Orientation

Greetings and Welcome to Santa Clara Law's

Mabie Law Library.

The library staff is excited you are here, and we would like to be your 'partner in research' over the next few years.  This guide is set up to provide you with basic information regarding the library, law school, and campus.

We hope you find it gives you the information you need to make your first days at Santa Clara comfortable.

The Mabie Law Library houses the basic legal reference and research collection for the students and faculty at the School of Law, and provides support for access to electronic legal materials, including legal research platforms, treatises in e-book format and collections of primary and secondary sources of law and legal analysis. 

Law Library's Mission and Goals

The law library's primary mission is threefold:

First, to support Santa Clara University School of Law's goal to excel in preparing its students to meet the challenges of a legal profession that is increasingly global, technologically sophisticated, and culturally diverse.

Second, to provide a collection that supports the teaching, research, and writing programs of the faculty and students of the law school.

Third, to provide access to the collection by assisting and instructing faculty and students in utilizing the collection.

In carrying out the second and third components of the library's mission, the library will achieve the first part of its mission to support the law school in preparing its students to meet the challenge of the legal profession. In fulfilling this mission, the library assumes responsibility for providing basic legal materials needed for the Santa Clara University community. 

The library has two primary goals:

First, to maintain an up-to-date collection that will keep pace with developing areas of the law and law related professions, as well as the changing needs of the law school curriculum. It is important that the collection evolves as the law evolves.

Second, to strive for excellence in providing both access to information and service to the library's patrons.