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Taggart Law Library Guide: Policies

Circulation & Physical Collections

Our online catalog, POLAR, can be used to locate books within both Taggart Law Library and Heterick Memorial Library, the main university library. Computers that can access POLAR are available throughout the law library, and library staff can provide assistance if you do not find the material that you need.

Books from our circulating collection can be checked out by law students for the semester, with one renewal available. Reserve materials typically circulate for four hours at a time, and are subject to a thirty-minute waiting period before they can be checked out again by the same patron. Most circulating collections may also be checked out by ONU undergraduate students for a semester. Due to the specialized nature of the law library, most of our collections are research materials that are for library use only. 

Smoking, Food, Drink, & Animals

Ohio Northern University is a tobacco-free campus. The use of any tobacco product (e.g., cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes) within the law library is prohibited.

In general, food and beverages in closed containers may be consumed within the library, but all library users are responsible for leaving study areas clean after use. Foods with the potential to be overly messy, smelly, or distracting to others should be eaten outside of the law library. The use of small appliances in the library is prohibited.

At this time, no animals are allowed in the library, within the exception of the service animal of an individual with a disability or a service animal in training.

Group Study Room Policies

Group study rooms in the Taggart Law Library are able to be reserved only by law students. Reservations open for each day at 12:00 A.M. and can be reserved for up to four hours per booking. Students may only have one active booking at a time, however, you are free to create a new reservation once your previous one has expired. We recommend that students use the rooms in groups of two to four.

Students who have reserved a study room can pick up the key from the circulation desk at the beginning of their reservation. If you or your group will be more than 15 minutes late, please call the law library (419-772-2239). After 15 minutes and no call, the entire reservation is cancelled and the room will be open for booking. 

If you need to leave your room for 30–60 minutes during your reservation, please lock your study room door. The library is not responsible for items left unattended. If items are left in the study room after your reservation has ended, we will remove said items to prepare the room for the next reservation and hold your items at the circulation desk until you retrieve them.

Keys should be returned promptly once your reservation has ended to allow for the next group to use the study room. At the end of the reservation, please clean off all whiteboards, clean up and properly dispose of all food and beverages.

Reservations that do not comply with the above policies will be cancelled by the law library staff.

Click here for instructions on how to use the online reservation system.

Rooms can be reserved here or using the tool on the right hand margin. 

Law Library Use by Non-University Patrons

The Taggart Law Library has been a member of the Federal Depository Library Program since 1965. The law library provides non-university patrons access to the physical government document collections, and electronic depository materials are available online. Those conducting legal research and who need to use the library's collections are also welcomed. All other use of the law library by members of the general public is permitted at the discretion of the Law Library Director. However, please note that the student computer lab is not available for use by the general public.

Members of the local bar, ONU law college alumni, and judges may check out circulating items for 21 days. Judges may check out non-circulating materials for 7 days, subject to recall. General public patrons are limited to on-site use of library materials; no off-site circulation privileges are permitted.

Reserve materials are available to the general public at the discretion of the librarian on duty. Reference services are limited to assistance in finding user-specified titles or materials. Library staff cannot perform research or suggest search strategies for non-university patrons. Under no circumstances is legal advice or referral given to public patrons.

Reference Appointments

The Taggart Law Library is here to help! Schedule an appointment with a librarian or chat with us using our online chat feature. Open to ONU Law students, faculty, staff, and alumni. 

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