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The Garbrecht Law Library of the University of Maine School of Law is located on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the Law Building on the Portland Campus of the University of Southern Maine. Visitors can come to the 3rd Floor Circulation area to receive assistance.

In 1993, an addition was constructed to house the library’s growing collection. The first and third floors of the addition house the library’s British and Canadian collections, respectively. Pictured is the addition’s 2nd floor reading room, which provides a very pleasant study area for students and other patrons.

The third floor of the Garbrecht Law Library houses the library’s circulation area, reference desk and collections, and Maine state legal materials -- the Laws of Maine, the Maine Revised Statutes and the Maine Legislative Documents.

Garbrecht Law Library - Serving the Law School Community, the Practicing Bar and the General Public

The Donald L. Garbrecht Law Library contains over 335,000 volumes, including a complete collection of federal and state statutes, law reports, a comprehensive collection of Canadian and British Commonwealth legal resources, and an outstanding collection of legal periodicals. These traditional print resources are complimented by a variety of electronic legal resources, including public access to LexisNexis, Westlaw and HeinOnline.

General Information

The primary mission of the Donald L. Garbrecht Law Library is to serve the curricular and research needs of the students, and faculty at the University of Maine School of Law, located on the Portland campus of the University of Southern Maine.

The law library also serves the undergraduate community at the University of Southern Maine, the practicing bar, and the general public. The staff of the library is made up of seven professional librarians, and four library assistants. During the academic year the law library is open 95 hours per week with seating space for over 160 students. Professional reference service is available 40-45 hours per week.

Resources

In addition to traditional print resources, the Garbrecht Law Library provides access to several of the most prominent electronic databases, including public access to LexisNexis, Westlaw, and HeinOnline. The reference staff is available to train patrons on how to use these resources and to help patrons find the resources they need.

The library also provides interlibrary loan services to the general public. Furthermore, as a member of the URSUS library system, patrons from other libraries in the URSUS system can use Requestor and MaineCat to request our materials.

Other resources provided by the Garbrecht Law Library, and available from the Law Library's homepage, include a searchable database of Maine Superior Court Opinions, a collection of the ordinances from many Maine city and towns, and several podcasts and webcasts of the many prominent speakers invited to speak at the University of Maine School of Law throughout the academic year.

Special Collections

The Judge Edward T. Gignoux Special Collections and Rare Book Room houses the personal papers of two of Maine's most prominent judges, Judge Edward T. Gignoux and Judge Frank M. Coffin. Judge Gignoux presided at the Indian Lands Claim case and at the bribery-conspiracy trial of U.S. District Judge Alcee Hastings in Miami. He gained national attention in 1973 when U.S. Chief Justice Warren Burger appointed him to hear the contempt trial of Abby Hoffman, Tom Hayden and the other 1960s activists known as the Chicago Seven, who were charged with conspiracy to disrupt at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. His work on these cases and many others are included in the collection at the Garbrecht Law Library.

Special Collections and Rare Book Room also houses the papers of Judge Frank M. Coffin, who was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1965 and served as the Chieif Judge of that court from 1972-1983. He assumed senior status in 1989 and officially entered retirement in 2006. Finally, this room also houses some 1,200 rare books, primarily early English, American and Maine legal treatises, dating back to the 17th century. Included in the collection is Commentaries on American Law, an 1826 work by James Kent that serves as the basis for contemporary legal theories, and the first edition of The Laws of Maine, published in 1821.