Middle Temple Law Library

Middle Temple Law Library

Our class tour of the Middle Temple Law Library was conducted by librarian Renae Satterly. She began our tour with an overview of the four Inns of Court to help us understand Middle Temple's position within that structure. There is the Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, and Lincoln's Inn. If you want to practice law and join the bar, you must be a member of one of the inns. The Inn's are responsible for calling barristers to the bar. Joining is highly competitive and only about half of applicants get pupillage. To be eligible you must have a degree and have passed the Bar. Each Inn has its own library and they share jurisdiction.

The Middle Temple Law Library was founded in 1641. It was in this year that Robert Ashley bequeathed 3,700 book with subjects covering medicine, science, and religion. It is open to all members of the Inns of Court. Within the collection there are textbooks, handbills, historic texts, and ecclesiastical law. The library carries past editions of textbooks and law reports with the belief that they are still relevant because they contain good law. Material not shelved in the main library is held within the two basement levels. Members are able to use the tables and workstations set up between each row of shelving. The middle of the library on the ground level is open space with glass cases featuring different texts. At the back of the ground floor there is a desk with a portrait of Robert Ashley. It feels as though he is keeping a weather eye on the work that he started with his donation.

The organization of the library was a surprise to me. There is no classification system. The reasoning behind this is that the Inns want the library to resemble what is known as a "gentleman's library". It does indeed have the appearance of what you might find in a stately house. It is aesthetically pleasing, but I wonder how difficult it is to locate material for researchers. The items are cataloged however. The library uses SirsiDynix workflows for the catalog. The work of the law library seemed quite intimidating to me. The task of examining years of text to find the information needed to prove a legal point would require first, an understanding of the law being practiced, and a tremendous amount of attention to detail. One thing that I found incredibly encouraging is that our guide, much like several of our guides, informed our class that the specific skills for this kind of library work were learned while on the job. I feel that one of the skills of information professionals is acquiring new knowledge. If you are willing to learn a new system or area of expertise, with the fundamental skills of the profession you can transition through various specialties. That is something I hope to be able to accomplish.