Law Commons^™

The Law Library, Hobart Coffey

About the Buildings

The history of the Law Library dates from the establishment of the Law School in 1859· In June of that year, having in mind the Law Department that was to open the following October, the Regents appropriated $2,000 for the purchase of law books. That any books were actually bought before the department opened seems unlikely. It is more probable that the first Law Library was composed of a small collection of about 350 volumes donated by Judge Thomas M. Cooley, and duly accepted by the Regents in October, 1859. This first collection is said to have included ten volumes …