Law Library Policies

Purpose

The University of San Francisco Zief Law Library (“law library”) is a private academic law library dedicated to supporting the education of our law students and the scholarship of our faculty. The law library’s collection development policy is designed to be flexible and adaptable to technological changes in the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and preservation of information. The collection meets the current standards of the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. The law librarians will periodically review this policy to address changes in curriculum and scholarship. They will also continuously assess budget conditions that affect collection development.

Patrons

The law library’s primary patrons are current USF law faculty, students, and staff. If resources, staff, and budget allow, the law library will also strive to accommodate the needs of the USF University community and alumni.

Inclusion and Accessibility

The law library is deeply committed to the principles of accessibility, diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in its collection. As such, it actively seeks and acquires materials reflecting diverse identities, perspectives, and lived experiences. Additionally, the library recognizes the diverse needs of its patrons, such as auditory, visual, or sensory challenges and various learning styles, and factors those needs into collection development decisions. The law library is dedicated to ensuring that all members of its academic community have equitable access to resources, irrespective of any challenges they might face. Recognizing the diverse needs of its patrons, the library will prioritize these principles in the collection development and will actively seek and acquire materials in a variety of formats, ensuring that students with visual, auditory, or other sensory challenges can access and benefit from the collection. Additionally, as part of this commitment to inclusion, the law library recognizes the broad spectrum of neurodiversity and will ensure the collection includes materials tailored to different learning styles and cognitive approaches.

Government Depository Status

The law library maintains a selective depository status for federal government documents in partnership with the USF's Gleeson Library-Geshcke Center (“Gleeson'' or “University library”). In its capacity as a federal government document depository, the law library houses specific federal depository materials tailored to the needs of the law school community. Furthermore, the law library is a selective depository for California state documents, sending non-legal state documents to the University library. As a result of its depository status, the law library offers public access to both federal and California state government documents, in compliance with applicable regulations and library policies. The law library acquires additional government documents if it is necessary to support the law school’s curriculum or patrons’ research needs. When appropriate, the library coordinates selection with the University library.

The law library provides meaningful access to research materials needed by our patrons whether or not available within the law library's own collection. The law library helps patrons obtain desired information in a variety of ways, including the use of online research resources, teaching, creating instructional resources that guide patrons to relevant library collection materials, interlibrary loan, and cooperative agreements with other institutions.

The law library’s reference, reserve, and general collections are fully cataloged and accessible via USF’s online public catalog (“Ignacio”).  The library’s microform and audio-visual collections are cataloged, and patrons may view and print hard copies of the microform collection using microfiche and a microfilm reader. The law library has equipment for viewing DVDs. The law library furnishes remote access to online research resources whenever feasible.

The law library subscribes to a wide variety of online research resources, including Westlaw, LexisNexis, Bloomberg Law, and HeinOnline. The research librarians facilitate access through teaching basic legal research in cooperation with the first-year Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis program, as well as advanced legal research in the upper-level curriculum.

Collection Level

The law library maintains a collection at the Instructional Support Level for all primary subjects taught at the USF School of Law. This level ensures a collection—or the capability to access materials—adequate to back instruction and research for both J.D. and LL.M degrees, with the latter specific to subjects offering the LL.M degree. The Instructional Support Level encompasses (1) reference resources; (2) relevant primary authorities and secondary sources; (3) specific monograph titles; and (4) journal titles. Additionally, it includes foundational legal research and bibliographic resources 

Criteria for Recommending Acquisition

The law library applies the following criteria when evaluating additions to the law library collection:

• Cost
• User interface/ Accessibility
• Materials related to special programs, clinics and certifications
• Materials related to current faculty scholarship
• Authoritativeness of publisher or producer
• Significance of the subject
• Importance and expertise of the author
• Accuracy of the information
• Potential for known use by patrons
• Importance to the total collection
• Inclusion of material in bibliographies, and reviews (Current and/or permanent value)
• Scarcity of material on the subject
• Availability of material elsewhere
• Format (print, microfiche, digital, etc.)
• Longevity of format
• Physical quality (binding, print, margins, etc.)
• Duplication
• Available space
• Maintenance (actual and staff costs)

Format

The law library makes decisions about format based on budget conditions and the reliability and permanence of access. The law library evaluates available formats on a case-by-case basis.

Micro Formats

The law library maintains microfilm and microfiche, but it is not a preferred format.  

Online Resources

The law library proactively reviews new online resources for potential inclusion in the collection. Selection is based on their contribution to the collection, enhancement of patron accessibility, assurance of up-to-date and accurate legal information, and provision of digital backups for crucial print materials. 

Imprint Dates

In general, the law library acquires current material (i.e., having an imprint date within the last ten years) as a higher priority than acquiring retrospective material. The law library may acquire retrospective material if the material constitutes a part of a back file of a current title, will likely receive a high degree of use, or is received through donation.

Duplication

The law library avoids collecting duplicate material, including materials housed in the University library collection, unless student and faculty use or class size demonstrate a need for additional copies.  Duplication of large sets may occur through micro format or through online access. Generally, the law library relies on the University library to provide access to interdisciplinary materials.

Interlibrary Loan/Borrowing

Utilizing the OCLC bibliographic utility, the library also offers an interlibrary loan program for its patrons. Reciprocal access agreements are maintained with other private academic law libraries to benefit faculty and students. In addition, the Gleeson library makes interdisciplinary materials available through their Link+ document delivery system. Efforts are made to avoid acquiring rarely-used or expensive titles when they are accessible through interlibrary loan.

California Materials

The law library maintains a comprehensive collection of California primary and secondary legal materials, including: California state codes, California case law, California regulations and administrative agency materials, and California specific secondary sources.

Reference Material and Open Reserve

The law library makes purchases to support a distinct reference collection, comprised of general legal reference sources that serve as authoritative guides on specific topics or provide quick answers to legal questions. Traditionally, these include legal encyclopedias, dictionaries, and directories. Additionally, heavily-used treatises, practice guides, and study aids are purchased to be included in an open reserve area, designated for in-library use. Select reference materials are acquired to be held on reserve behind the Circulation and Reserve desk. 

Treatises

The law library includes a variety of treatises within the collection, covering subjects addressed within the curriculum or by faculty research. Major criteria considered when acquiring treatises includes: author authoritativeness; cost; the law school curriculum; information quality; and institutional affiliation.

Academic Support and Course-Related Materials

The law library is dedicated to ensuring students have access to the resources they need for optimal class preparation, comprehensive understanding, and exam mastery, including preparation for the bar exam. To this end, we actively curate a collection that encompasses hornbooks, study guides, and other related academic support materials. Recognizing the importance of class-specific texts, the library also commits to acquiring at least one copy of all required textbooks used in the curriculum. These texts are placed on reserve, ensuring students have consistent access for their study needs.

Periodicals

The law library relies on Westlaw, Lexis, HeinOnline, and other online databases for access to law reviews and journals. The law library maintains print subscriptions only for those law reviews and journals that are not accessible online.

Gifts

The law library welcomes gifts and donations of books and other materials, provided they enrich the collection or serve as replacements for worn volumes. Donated materials must adhere to the library’s collection development guidelines and come with no donor-imposed conditions. Any conditions attached to cash donations must be negotiated before they will be accepted. All potential gifts are discussed with the law library director before acceptance. Decisions regarding the classification, housing, and circulation of donated materials rest solely with the law library staff. The library reserves the right to manage or dispose of donations as seen fit and does not offer value assessments for tax purposes.

• Administrative Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Animal Law
• Antitrust Law
• Appellate Advocacy
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning Law”
• Arbitration
• Bankruptcy
• Bioethics
• Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) regulations
• Business Planning
• California Law, Generally
• Children's Rights
• Civil Litigation Practice
• Civil Procedure
• Civil Rights Law 
• Commercial Transactions
• Community Property
• Comparative Law
• Conflict of Laws
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Copyright Law
• Corporate Taxation
• Corporations and Partnerships
• Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Cryptocurrency Regulations
• Cyberspace Law
• Death Penalty Law
• Discovery
• Discrimination Law
• Employment Discrimination
• Environmental Law: California, Federal and International 
• ERISA
• Estate Planning
• European Union Law
• Evidence
• Family Law
• Federal Courts
• Forensic Evidence
• Gender & Sexuality Law
• Health Care Law
• Housing Discrimination
• Human Rights Law
• Immigration Law
• Information Technology Law
• Insurance Law
• Intellectual Property
• International Business Transactions
• International Economic Relations
• Jurisprudence
• Juvenile Law and Justice
• Labor Law
• Land Use
• Legal History
• Legal Research, Writing & Analysis
• Legal Scholarship
• Marine Insurance
• Maritime Law
• Native American Law
• Negotiation
• Patent Law
• Predatory Lending Law
• Privacy Rights
• Professional Responsibility and Ethics
• Public Interest and Nonprofit Organizations
• Public International Law
• Real Estate Transactions
• Real Property
• Remedies
• Securities Regulation
• Secured Transactions
• Sports Law
• Street Law
• Supreme Court
• Taxation (Federal and Foreign/International)
• Telecommunications Law
• Torts
• Trademark
• Trial Advocacy and Practice
• Uniform Commercial Code
• Venture Capital Law
• Water Law
• Wills and Trusts
• Workers' Compensation Law

The library subscribes to the “green slip” service through William S. Hein & Co. and its primary monograph jobber is Midwest. The library maintains loose-leaf services and other continuations through service representatives from various publishing companies. The Head of Collection Services maintains contact with the representatives so that the library may review continuations and make renewal decisions regarding the services prior to yearly price increases.

Selection Process

The law librarians work collaboratively to review and identify various materials for acquisition by the law library. The librarians, informed by law faculty, students, and other library staff, address patron requests and collection gaps to enhance the library's offerings. In addition, the research librarians regularly evaluate specific subject areas of interest to faculty to ensure that the library collection supports teaching and scholarship needs. Furthermore, research librarians, acting as faculty liaisons, closely monitor areas of scholarly interest pertinent to their respective faculties.

Weeding

The law library periodically reviews sections of the collection to identify and remove outdated, damaged, or other materials that no longer align with the collection development policy. In addition, materials may be removed to address space constraints, format obsolescence, infrequent use, or digital availability. While the library may seek input from faculty members concerning the withdrawal of materials within their areas of scholarly interest, the final disposition of materials to be removed rests with the library staff. All weeded materials will be disposed of using the most environmentally appropriate methods available.

The law library maintains group study rooms for the exclusive use of USF law students, law faculty, and law staff. Monopolizing library space, rooms, seating, study tables or equipment to the exclusion of others is prohibited.

Law faculty, students, and staff can book a group study room online.

A group of two or more students may reserve a group study room for a maximum of a single three-hour block of time per day. No group or any members of a group may sign up for a group study room for more than three hours per day.

A group may remain in a room beyond the three-hour limit if no other group has signed up for that room. The group may remain in the room only until another group signs up for the room, at which point the room must be vacated.

Rooms will be held for up to 15 minutes after the beginning of the reserved time. If the group who made the reservation does not claim the room within 15 minutes of the beginning of the reservation, another group may be allowed to use the room.

During exam periods, and on other occasions if an emergency arises, it is sometimes necessary to use the group study rooms for exam administration. However, the study rooms may only be reserved for exam administration through the Registrar's office. Students may not book the group study rooms for exams directly through the library website. Any such direct reservations are subject to cancellation.

Law school departments and organizations may need to reserve group study rooms for law-school-related activities for more than three hours per day. Law school staff must contact full-time circulation staff for this type of use.

Full-time faculty requiring multiple group study rooms for class-related activities must also reserve rooms with a full-time member of the circulation staff. Unfortunately, due to the number of adjunct faculty, we are unable to furnish group study rooms for adjuncts' office hours.

The windows in group study rooms must not be blocked or covered.

Library staff will ask groups that are excessively noisy and disturbing other library patrons to vacate group study rooms.

A violation of one or more of these group study room rules may result in suspension of group study room privileges.

As a courtesy to our recent law graduates, the law library furnishes access to group study rooms during bar exam preparation. All of these rules, including the three-hour limit, continue to apply to recent graduates' group study room reservations. All-day reservation of group study rooms is not permitted. Alumni studying for the bar who have remained in a group study room beyond three hours must vacate the room if other patrons want to use it. 

Virtual Conference Room Policy (Zief 116)

Currently-enrolled USF Law students and USF Law alumni may book the virtual conference room online for a single 2-hour period per day for virtual interviews. The process for booking Zief 116 online is the same as booking a group study room online. Patrons must use a USF email address to reserve online.

Zief 116 is available for virtual interviews only. This room cannot be booked for any activity involving 2 or more individuals, including, but not limited to meetings with clients or individual or group study sessions. Law students and alumni must furnish and set up their own devices for virtual interviews. No USF IT support is available unless the individuals booking the room make their own arrangements for IT support.

At the beginning of your reservation, please check in with staff at the library's circulation desk so they can escort you to Zief 116.

Please maintain a low noise level when using the virtual conference room because it is located next to library staff offices. Any use of the virtual conference room that disturbs regular library operations is not permitted. You must not block the windows in the room.

You must vacate the virtual conference room at the scheduled end time for your reservation, unless no one else has signed up for the room, in which case you may remain in the room beyond the two-hour limit. In that case, you may remain in the room only until another person’s reservation period begins.

As with all Zief room reservations, law library staff may terminate a reservation at any time without prior notice for any reason. Violating any of these policies may result in loss of reservation privileges.

This section summarizes the Zief law library's interlibrary borrowing and lending policies.

For questions about interlibrary lending ("ILL") and borrowing policies and procedures, please call 415-422-5120.

Borrowing Services for USF Law Faculty, Staff, and Students

Eligible patrons

Interlibrary loan (ILL) and photocopy services are available to USF law faculty, law staff and law students. USF students, faculty and staff not affiliated with the law school must use the interlibrary loan services provided by Gleeson Library.

What We Can Request From Other Libraries

We will borrow items not owned by USF libraries and items missing from the USF libraries' collections. We will not borrow books owned by the USF libraries which are temporarily in use or on reserve.

We will request photocopies from publications not owned by USF and from publications missing from the USF libraries. We will also request copies of pages missing from USF libraries' materials.

Making a Request

USF law faculty, staff and students may make borrowing requests by calling the Zief interlibrary loan coordinator at 415-422-5120. Requests for photocopies need to be made in person at the Zief library reference desk so that the patron can deliver an Interlibrary Loan Request indicating compliance with copyright law.

What We Ask From Patrons

• To submit an Interlibrary Loan Request with the complete bibliographic information, stating where the citation was found and attaching a photocopy or printout from the citing document if possible.
• To indicate compliance with the Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) where required.
• To pay for any photocopying or other processing/lending charges incurred. (Many lending libraries charge for loans or photocopies.)
• To be responsible for returning all materials on time and in the condition in which they were received. Failure to return borrowed items by the due date will result in suspension of Bursar and Registration services until the items are returned and all associated charges are paid in full.
• To pay for lost or damaged books. These charges are set by the lending library.

Lending Services to Other Libraries

Eligible Libraries

We will lend to:

• Other academic law libraries
• General academic libraries
• State, court, and county law libraries
• Public libraries
• Local law firm libraries, if these libraries are staffed by librarians affiliated with the Northern California Association of Law Libraries and are located within the San Francisco Bay Area.  In addition, local law firm libraries are expected to send a messenger to pick up and return any items obtained via interlibrary loan.

We will provide photocopies to the following types of libraries, provided that the request states compliance with copyright law (CCL) or guidelines (CCG):

• Academic law libraries
• General academic libraries
• State, court, and county law libraries
• Public libraries

Materials That May Be Obtained Through Interlibrary Loan

Generally, we will lend only circulating materials (i.e., single-volume, un-supplemented monographs not in loose leaf format).

Charges

The law library charges $20 per item for lending to other academic law libraries, general academic libraries, state, court, and county law libraries, public libraries, or local law firm libraries.

Making a Request

Eligible libraries must request interlibrary loans via OCLC only. Requests for photocopies must indicate compliance with copyright law. Please allow two business days to process lending requests. The law library cannot provide Rush Service due to staffing limitations. For Rush Service, consider contacting the following fee-based document delivery services:

• UCLA Law Library's UCLAW Express

To verify our holdings, check the USF libraries' online catalog, Ignacio. Please note that only items with the word "LAW" in the location field are in the law library collection. We can entertain ILL requests only for those items.

Our fax number is 415-422-2345.

Our mailing address is:

Interlibrary Lending
Dorraine Zief Law Library
University of San Francisco School of Law
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080

For questions about ILL policies and procedures, call 415-422-5120.

1. Summary of Service Policy

The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private, Jesuit institution, and the USF Law Library is a private research library for the University of San Francisco. This policy defines the research services law librarians at the USF Law Library will provide to its user groups. This policy also defines circumstances in which research services may be limited or refused. Please refer to the Law Library’s Access Policy for more detail about who is permitted to access the Law Library.

Current USF students, faculty, and staff have first priority to use Law Library facilities, resources, and services, including legal research assistance. The USF Law Library provides research service to support to the fullest extent possible the research needs of current USF, students, faculty, and staff.

The Law Library will provide legal research assistance to USF Law alumni and law students from other ABA-accredited law schools if possible given the constraints of time, budget, and staffing. The Law Library will provide assistance to members of the public with the use of government documents in accordance with the regulations regarding the California and Federal depository programs.

The Law Library staff may refuse access to legal research services to anyone who disrupts others’ use of the Law Library or who engages in behavior that is intimidating or disrespectful to library staff or other users.

2. Guidelines for Service Groups

A. USF Faculty

The Law Library research librarians will assist USF faculty in securing information necessary to support their teaching and scholarship.

B. USF Students

The Law Library research librarians will assist students in securing information that is related to their coursework and education at USF. When appropriate, Law Library research librarians will also design and deliver legal research instruction to USF students. Law Library research librarians may refer questions from USF undergraduate and non-law graduate students to Gleeson Library staff for response whenever the law librarians deem such referrals appropriate.

Subject to the limitations set forth in this policy and time and staffing constraints, the Law Library research librarians will provide legal research assistance to law students working in law firms, courts, government agencies, and other legal services organizations.

Subject to the limitations set forth in this policy and to time and staffing constraints, the Law Library research librarians will suggest resources for USF students who require legal research services for personal reasons.

C. USF Staff

The Law Library research librarians will provide research services to University of San Francisco staff to help them fulfill job-related information needs.

D. USF Law Alumni and Law Students Attending Other ABA-Accredited Law Schools

Where possible, given time and staffing constraints, the Law Library research librarians will provide legal research services to USF Law alumni and law students currently attending other ABA-accredited law schools. The Law Library does not furnish legal research services to students enrolled in paralegal programs at other colleges and universities.

E. Members of the Public

The Law Library research librarians will assist members of the public in locating California and Federal government depository documents to the extent required by California and Federal government depository regulations. The Law Library does not furnish research services to the public. Instead, the Law Library staff will refer public patrons who need access to legal materials outside of depository documents or research advice to publicly-funded law libraries.

3. Service Limitations

A. Unauthorized Practice of Law

The Law Library research librarians shall not furnish legal assistance or interpretations of the law if, in the judgment of the research librarian providing service, doing so would result in any violation of law, including, but not limited to, breach of the California Rules of Professional Conduct or the commission of the crime of unauthorized practice of law.

B. Use of Law Library Databases

Law Library research librarians shall use Lexis and Westlaw to assist current USF Law faculty, law students, and law staff in accordance with applicable contracts between the USF Law Library and these vendors. Law Library staff must comply with vendor licensing agreements when furnishing legal research assistance to all user groups.

C. Telephone Research Assistance

The Law Library research librarians may answer simple research questions over the phone for patrons eligible to receive service under this policy. In-person or chat-service research requests will receive priority. The Law Library staff will not read cases, statutes, regulations, or other documents over the phone.

D. Virtual Research Assistance

The Law Library research librarians may answer research questions received from USF students, faculty, and staff via chat, text, or instant message. The Law Library research librarians may answer simple virtual questions relating to the California and Federal depository government documents available at the USF Law Library.

Updated March 2022

Zief Law Library wants to provide all patrons with a comfortable and welcoming study environment.

Library users who consume food or drinks in the law library must do so in a manner that maintains a clean, safe library and that minimizes the risk of damage to library books, equipment and other property.

We allow beverage consumption in the law library so long as beverages are in containers with tops, lids, or caps.

Please discard all wrappers and empty containers, clean up after yourself, and report any beverage spills to library staff so that we can alert our maintenance crews.

The University of San Francisco has adopted and implemented a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by its students and employees on school premises or as part of any of its activities.

Read the USF Alcohol and Drug Policy

Consumption of tobacco products is prohibited in the Zief Law Library in compliance with the provisions of Section 6404.5 of the California Labor Code and the San Francisco Municipal Health Code (Article 19, A through E). Patrons of the law library should be aware that USF has instituted a campus-wide smoking policy, which prohibits smoking on campus. This policy applies to the law school.

Read the USF Smoking Policy

The Zief Law Library seeks to provide space for quiet study for our patrons. As our cell phone policy states below, audible cell phone use is not permitted in any areas of the library. The law library fulfills many functions for patrons with diverse needs. Everyone has their own preferences for studying. In order to accommodate these differing needs, we have designated silent, quiet, and conversation areas within the law library.

Club '59 on the second floor is designated as a silent study space. No conversation or headphone use that is audible to others is permitted in this space. You may use a laptop in Club '59 so long as your laptop use is confined to typing (no audible videos or music).

The rest of the second floor, including the soft seating area outside of Club '59 and the Terrace Room, is designated as a quiet study space. The second floor's quiet study spaces are intended for use by students who wish to study on their own quietly. Talking or whispering with others is discouraged in these spaces.

The law library's main floor and lower floor are designated as conversation spaces because the library's main floor service desks and patron research consultations will unavoidably generate some noise. We encourage patrons to use the soft seating area on the main floor as a space for collaboration, conversation, and group work.

The library's lower floor houses classrooms, the Academic Support Program, ABES faculty, Moot Court offices, the Blockchain Law for Social Good Center, and LRWA faculty. Because consultations with faculty and group meetings are common on this floor, it is also designated as a conversation space.

Cellphone Policy

All patrons must set their phones to "silent" or "vibrate" when entering the library in order to avoid disturbing other library patrons. All cell phone calls must be received and transmitted outside of the Zief Law Library building. 

USF is committed to compliance with state and federal laws regarding individuals with disabilities. Student Disability Services (SDS) is committed to supporting students who require a service animal. The following is a guide for students who request the presence of a service animal on campus.

What is a service animal? A service animal is a dog (or in some cases a miniature horse) that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.

The work or task that the service animal performs must be directly related to the individual's disability. Examples include assisting individuals with low vision and alerting individuals who are hearing impaired. Service animals may also be needed to pull a wheelchair, retrieve items such as medicine or a telephone, recognize and assist during seizures, and prevent or interrupt compulsive or destructive behavior.

Animals whose presence provide emotional support, companionship or comfort but are not individually trained to do work or tasks in response to an individual's disability are not considered service animals. See USF's policy on Assistance Animals, if you feel you have a disability and believe you require an assistance animal for emotional support or comfort.

Service animals are exempted from the University’s policy of no animals on campus and are allowed in all places of public accommodation. This includes campus buildings, residence halls, and anywhere on campus they are needed to assist an individual with a disability to participate in educational programs and other campus activities.

Service animals must be under effective control at all times and cannot harm or threaten others in the campus community; including faculty, staff, students and guests. Consistent with federal and state law, a service animal may be prohibited from university facilities or programs if the animal’s behavior or presence poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. The animal may also be excluded from areas where its presence fundamentally alters the nature of a program or activity, if the animal is disruptive, if its presence would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others, or if it substantially interferes with the reasonable enjoyment of housing or public accommodation by others. Service animals must be housebroken and cleaned up after. Animals may only relieve themselves in designated areas as defined by Facilities Management.

Students who are approved to have a service animal on campus are strongly encouraged to register with SDS.

Campus Shuttle

The Department of Student Affairs and the Department of Public Safety cosponsor The Campus Shuttle Program. The service provides transportation to various USF locations within San Francisco and operates on an on-call basis in the evenings. If you need shuttle service, contact Public Safety Dispatch at 415-422-4201.

Safety Escort Service

The Department of Public Safety operates a safety escort service between dusk and dawn. For a security escort, please contact Public Safety Dispatch at 415-422-4201.

Discouraging Theft

Never leave personal property or anything of value unattended while you are in the law library. Some areas of the Zief Law Library are monitored by closed-circuit security cameras for the safety and protection of our patrons, collection and furnishings, but thefts have occurred in the past. Promptly report a theft or any other crime to USF Public Safety and to the Circulation Desk staff. The USF Public Safety emergency number is 415-422-2911. The non-emergency number is 415-422-4222.

Book Security

The library's electronic security system will activate an alarm if a book that has not been checked out is removed from the library. If your entrance or exit from the building triggers the alarm, please report to the Circulation Desk.

Theft and Mutilation of Library Materials

The Library regards theft, mutilation, or hiding of library materials as violations of the USF and Law School Honor Code. Such acts may also violate California law. The Law Library will cooperate with the University and the Law School in prosecuting any known violations to the fullest extent possible.