About the Library

With over half a million volumes and volume-equivalents, the William M. Rains Library is one of the largest private law libraries in the western United States.  The Library includes primary legal materials for all U.S. jurisdictions as well as an extensive collection of secondary sources for California law.  In addition, the Library has a growing collection of international, foreign and comparative legal materials.  The Library also collects resources in political science, economics, social science, philosophy and other disciplines that augment the legal collection.

The Library subscribes to an extensive array of digital resources encompassing U.S., foreign and international legal materials.  These databases can be found through the Library’s catalog or through the Databases page.  The LLS community - faculty, students and staff - also has remote access to LMU library's electronic resources. 

As a service to the LLS community, the Library maintains a Popular Reading Room with both fiction and non-fiction titles. Included are works about the City of Los Angeles and about Frank Gehry, the architect of the Loyola Law School campus.  The Library also makes an extensive collection of documentary and popular films available to the LLS community.

The Library has an on-going commitment to the intellectual development of the LLS community through its programs of collection development, research assistance, facility enhancement and technology.  For questions about the Library or its resources, please contact the Reference Librarians.