Access to the Supreme Court Library of Queens County is open to:
1. Judges of the NYS Unified Court System and their law clerks.
2. Supreme Court nonjudicial employees, administrators and staff.
3. Nonjudicial employees of all courts within the NYS Unified Court System.
4. Members of the Bar.
5. Pro Se litigants.
6. Students.
7. Federal, state and local government employees.
8. Members of the general public who have a need to do legal research and who conduct themselves in the library with the same decorum as is required in all parts and courtrooms of the Supreme Court.
The Law Library is a Reference Collection
For the most part books in the law library collection do not circulate.
Books are to be reshelved by the user. Failure to reshelve may result in a loss of library privileges. Reading room materials should be reshelved when you are finished with them. Reserve books should be returned to the Reserve Desk. The accumulating of books on a library table with instructions not to reshelve them is not acceptable. The library collection is a shared resource.
Noise should be kept to a minimum. Please be considerate of others who are reading.
Fire Alarms
Fire alarm drills are periodically performed. You must leave the library during a fire alarm. Fire exits are located on all floors of the Library. If a fire alarm goes off, you must leave the Library immediately. Do not use the elevator. Do not return to the Library until instructed to do so.
Interlibrary Loans
The Law Library is a member of the SUNY/OCLC network and has the capacity to acquire via an electronic ILL subsystem almost any publication in the collection of network member libraries. Interlibrary loan transactions will be performed by library staff only at the request of a Judge of the NYS Unified Court System and or a nonjudicial employee of the Unified Court System. The library's membership in SUNY/OCLC permits library staff to locate via computer virtually any legal publication ever published either current or archival in the English language and direct the library user to the library or institution that holds the publication in its collection.
Identification of UCS employees unknown to the library staff may be requested. Court employees must have a currently valid UCS ID card in order to borrow materials from the Library. Attorneys who are not UCS employees are not permitted to borrow items from the library unless they have a written note from a Judge of the Unified Court System, also non-UCS employees may be asked to present their OCA issued ID cards or a business card and driver's license, in addition to the aforementioned note before borrowing any item from the law library.
Electronic Resources
The Law Library provides internet access at four computer terminals including access to Lexis. In addition, there are two terminals dedicated to the unified court system's "CourtHelp" website. CourtHelp provides free access to frequently-used forms and answers to frequently-asked questions about New York law and legal procedure.
Reading Areas
Reading Tables: Reading tables with four chairs per table are located throughout the library. Tables are for the use of all patrons and may not be reserved. No personal materials (including books, notes and pens) should be left unattended. Any personal materials found on or near the tables will be placed with courthouse security and in the lost and found in the security office. Books left on an unoccupied table will be reshelved by the library staff.
Cellular Phones
Cellular phones may not be used in the library reading rooms. Cell phones may only be used in the public hallways and corridors. If you receive a call while in the library, please move to a corridor immediately so as not to disturb other library patrons.