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Resource Guide for Law School Facilities General
Overview General
Overview
Bricks and Bytes is held every three years and is sponsored by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and hosting law schools. The conference is a comprehensive workshop on space planning for the law school. The next Bricks and Bytes conference will be held in March 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Past Conferences Background Sources The
ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools and Interpretations
lay out the requirements for law school facilities in the ABA
Standards, Chapter 7: Facilities. Standard 701, the general
requirement, addresses what the law school building itself must
support. Standard 702 addresses the requirements for the law library.
Finally, Standard 703 addresses the amount of study and research
space provided in the law school. The interpretations, located
directly below each standard, provide some guidance on how each
of the rules applies to the law schools.
Print Sources John
D. Edwards, “Planning and Constructing Law School Buildings: Ten
Basic Guidelines.” Law Library Journal (1998) 90:3, 423-445.
This article “highlights some key considerations that may provide
administrators, architects, and contractors with insights into
the process and help them avoid common pitfalls.” (LLJ) The author
provides ten basic guidelines for the process that includes planning
and constructing a law school building. Richard
J. Wood, Capital Improvements: A Guide For The Construction
Of A Modern Law School, 27 Cap. U. L. Rev. 709 (1999). The
author discusses the details of the process for building a new
law school from start to finish. There
are many questions surrounding construction or renovation for
law school administrators. What is the best design for our facility?
How will we adapt our facility in order to take advantage of the
benefits of newer technologies? How do I read a blueprint?<'mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'> The
American School & University site, or School Designs, has
links to numerous articles that discuss many of the details that
law school administrators will need to consider for a new building
or renovation. The Construction
Guide on the School Designs site is a helpful resource for
those administrators just starting the process. The "Construction
Guide is designed to help administrators make informed decisions
regarding the planning, designing and construction of an educational
facility." (from http://www.schooldesigns.com) The site allows a user to search for design projects already in progress based on specific needs. You can search for projects by choosing “post secondary” under Category and entering “law” under Project Description. The links will lead you to information about the specific projects, such as area, cost, completion date, description and photos. That page will provide a further link with contact information for the architectural firm. Check
out links to some of the current law school projects on School
Designs below: The
American Institute
of Architects web site is also helpful for members of the
public who are faced with looming construction. The site has posted
several contract documents that
can be downloaded. The site also provides a link to AIA approved
architects that can be searched by type of building project and
geographic location. At this point the architect finder is hard
to use. Over
the past decade, technological advances have added a new caveat
to planning for new law libraries. Along with the standard considerations
these new changes provide administrators, architects, and contractors
with a lot to think about at the start of the planning process. The American School & University site, or School Designs, allows users to search for projects by choosing “post secondary” under Category and entering “law” under Project Description. The links will lead you to information about the specific projects, such as area, cost, completion date, description and photos. That page will provide a further link with contact information for the architectural firm. Check
out links to some of the current law library projects on School
Designs below: Check
out links to some of the current projects on School Designs for
general library buildings below: Library Print Sources Ruth
A. Fraley, Library Space Planning: A How-To-Do-It Manual for
Assessing, Allocating and Reorganizing Collections, Resources,
and Facilities, 2nd ed., Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1990. Philip
D. Leighton & David C. Weber, Planning Academic and Research
Library Buildings, 3rd ed., American Library Association,
1999. This must-have resource for administrators is a necessity
when designing a new library. The appendix includes: program and
other document examples; formulas, gridlines, and standards; functional
guidelines; environmental guidelines for collection preservation;
a list of equipment that might be overlooked; and a bibliography
of selected useful readings. Stephen
G. Margeton, Introduction to Design for Law and Other Academic Libraries: Reflection and Change.2nd ed. William S. Hein, 2007. This
resource is a start-to-finish guide to designing the academic library. It is an indepth work covering needs assessment; design development; construction documents; mechanical, electrical and accoustical needs; furniture, displays, and exhibits; security; and patron amenities.
William
W. Sannwald, Checklist of Library Building Design Considerations,
4th ed., American Library Association, 2001. This paperback
book is a good source to start with during the building process
as a way to encourage the administrator to figure out what exactly
she or he is working towards. Although it does not provide answers,
the book poses important questions to get the administrator thinking
about some of the decisions and challenges that will come up during
the process. David
W. Wilhemus, “Law Libraries and the Americans with Disabilities
Act: Making Law Libraries Accessible to the Visually Impaired.”
Law Library Journal (1994) 86:2, 299-310 Technology
Catherine Arcabascio, The Use Of Video-Conferencing Technology In Legal Education: A Practical Guide, 6 Va. J.L. & Tech. 5 (Spring 2001). This article discusses the changes that affect law school education, defines the new terminology, and presents planning issues that arise when law school attempt to make use of the technologies. Distance Learning The
American Bar Association discusses Distance
Education on the ABA web site. The site includes information
from the Distance Learning Conference held November 19-20, 1999
in Indianapolis, the ABA’s perspective on distance learning, and
temporary guidelines for distance education. Nicolas
P. Terry, Bricks Plus Bytes: How 'Click-And-Brick' Will Define
Legal Education Space, 46 Vill. L. Rev. 95 (2001). Due to
the changes in technology, this author suggest that the law schools
that we now know will have to change to meet the demands of the
new technology. One of the areas where this is true is in distance
education. Click
here to jump to the "Project
Showcase" directory.
The American Society of Interior Design, or ASID, provides resources for understanding the elements of interior design in an institutional setting. Conferences
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