The Public Mission of the Public Law School Library

This article explores the evolving public mission of the public law school library. Following a brief overview of the history of the public university and its public mission, the article examines the mission of state-supported law schools — particularly those affiliated with public research universities — and explores how that mission is affected as those law schools transition to a model of greater financial self-sufficiency. This consideration of the public mission of the public law school is crucial to understanding the public mission of the public law school library, as the library exists to support the law school’s mission. The article next reviews the public law school library’s traditional public mission and the unique challenges the public academic law library now faces in fulfilling that mission. The article concludes by encouraging public law school libraries to examine and, as necessary, redefine their public missions and to take a broader view of their role in supporting their law schools’ public missions. Public law school libraries also are encouraged to collaborate with one another and with state-supported university libraries to fulfill their public missions on a national basis.