Library Information

CONTACT INFORMATION
LIBRARY HOURS
ABOUT THE LAW LIBRARY
LIBRARY SECURITY
LAW LIBRARY MEMBERSHIP
BORROWING PROCEDURES
FINES
CONDUCT

The Law Library

Professional Staff:

Professor Velma Newton, SCM, B.A., (Spec. Hons.), M.A., LL.B (Hons.) F.L.A., C.L.E. - Law Librarian, Professor of Librarianship
Mr. Junior Browne, B.Sc (UWI), M.A. (USF) - Librarian II
Ms. Waveney Webster - Senior Library Assistant

Contact Information: 

NB: Students and members of the public are not permitted to receive or make calls from the library. There is a pay phone in the students recreation area for this purpose.
 

LIBRARY HOURS :

SEMESTER

SUMMER AND CHRISTMAS VACATIONS :

  Temporary changes will be posted in advance on the Law Library's front door.
 

CLOSING TIME :

The bell is rung twice before closing.  The first bell at 50 minutes before closing time and the second bell at 30 minutes before closing time.  The second bell indicates that no borrowing whatever is allowed.  Photocopying facilities are, however, permitted until fifteen minutes before closing time.  Readers are reminded that they must leave the Law Library by ten (10) minutes to closing time.

ABOUT THE LAW LIBRARY :

The Law Library of the University of West Indies at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados is centrally located within the Faculty of Law , and forms an integral part thereof. With modern and functional facilities and a rapidly developing collection of West Indian and other Commonwealth legal materials, it is considered the primary legal library in the region.

Available to the Law Library's users are QUICKLAW, the online full-text database of Canadian law; WESTLAW, one of the largest U.S. legal databases and CARILAW a database of West Indian legislation and cases. 

The collection is classified and arranged according to the Moys Classification Scheme for Law Books.

 
LIBRARY SECURITY :

A security guard is on duty during the Library's opening hours. The security guard may ask any person seeking entry into the library to identify himself/herself and to show material on leaving.  U.W.I. students and non-law staff (who would not be known to the security guard) are expected to present current valid ID cards on request. Outside Users (non UWI staff or students) need permission from the Law Librarian to use the Law Library. The names of persons who are given the necessary permission are included on a list which is kept by the security guard and updated on a two weekly basis.

Briefcases and other large bags are not to be brought into the Law Library, but must be left in the bag bay which is on the
right side of the main entrance door. Any bag larger than 9" x 12" is considered a large bag and the security guard may ask its holder to remove valuables and leave the bag in the bag bay, or in a locker. Lockers are provided in the student lobby and are available for a rental of $6.00 per year.
 

LAW LIBRARY MEMBERSHIP :

The Law Library is primarily a reference library. Its primary users are students and staff of the University, who must bring current UWI cards when registering.  Other persons may use the Library with the permission of the Law Librarian.

Limited loan privileges are allowed as follows :-

Undergraduate students :

- May borrow reserve material bearing a red strip on the spine on an overnight or weekend loan basis.

- Limit: 2 items

Staff and postgraduate students :

Persons in these categories may borrow reserve materials with red strip on an overnight or weekend basis.  They may also borrow textbooks and treatises from the open shelves for two weeks.

The total number of items which they may have on loan at any time is as follows:
 

Full time lecturers/senior lecturers	10 items
Professors	10 items
Part-time tutors	4 items
Postgraduate Students  (Law)	4 items
Postgraduate Students - Environmental Studies	2 items

Outsider users :

Outside users are persons who in writing, have sought and obtained the Law Librarian's permission to use the library. The categories are as follows:

1. Temporary users with no borrowing privileges.
2. Members of the Barbados Bar and other professional associations who need to consult legal material on a regular basis. Individual users in this category are required to pay an annual fee of Bds$200.00.  There is a Bds$20.00 administrative fee for first time users.
3. Employees of Government departments whose names are on a list submitted by the relevant Permanent Secretary or department head on an annual basis.

Outside users in categories (b) and (c) may have up to 2 items from the open-shelf textbook section on loan at any time.
 
All loans are subject to recall by the Law Librarian at any time.

Please note that loans to Faculty, outside users and postgraduate students do not include unreported cases, law reports, periodicals, statutes, reference materials (including encyclopedias and digests in the R&S Section and bibliographies) nor reserve material with a yellow strip.

Graduate Law Students enrolled in the Hugh Wooding and Norman Manley Law Schools are required to pay a caution fee of Bds. $50.00 and may be permitted to borrow (2) two items only on an overnight basis from the reserve collection. This deposit will cover the two-year period at Law School.  After graduating from Law School, graduates may become members of the library in the outside users category by remitting $150.00 as a further deposit fee, bringing their total deposit to $200.00.
 
BORROWING PROCEDURES :
 
Reading Room Material :

Reserve books, unpublished W.I. judgments and microforms being borrowed for reading room use must be signed out at the circulation desk, on a blue slip, and returned there after use.  This blue slip should be completely filled out before the item is issued. Blue slips must also be filled out for items in these categories which users wish to consult at the issue desk. Only two (2) items are allowed for reading room loan at any one time.

These items should be kept for two hours only.  If a student fails to return an item in this category to the issue desk a fine of $1.00 must be paid.

Overnight Books  :

Check the catalogue for call number and fill in the overnight reservation form with the required details.

Give form to the assistant at the circulation desk.  These reservation forms must be submitted between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., and are treated on a first come, first serve basis.  Only students in good standing will be permitted to reserve items.

Students must themselves hand in completed slips for items which they need to reserve.

From Monday to Friday during semester a reservation is valid until 7:00 p.m., and if not claimed by the requester by that time, any other reader in good standing with the library may borrow the item requested.
 
An overnight book may not be borrowed for more than two (2) consecutive nights by the same person unless there are no other requests.

Between Monday and Friday during semester overnight books should be collected from the circulation-reference desk after 5:00 p.m. and returned by 10:00 a.m. of the date on which they are due.

An overnight book may be borrowed for loan at any time on Saturdays and Sundays as follows:

- Saturdays between 9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m;
- Sundays 9:00 a.m to 4:30 p.m.

The two book cards found inside the cover of the overnight book must be signed and left at the circulation desk when the book is collected.

A reader who has made a reservation but is unable to collect the book between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. may request, through the circulation staff, to have someone else collect the book. The requester must provide the name of  the collector who must sign both cards in the book on the requester's behalf.

An overnight book may be borrowed for reading room use during the day. There is a two hour limit on Reading Room material which may be enforced particularly at examination periods.  Overnight books which have been requested, if in use in the reading room, must be relinquished on request.  These may be exchanged for the reading room copies, if any are available at the time.
 

RENEWALS :

Staff, postgraduate students and outside users who wish to keep books beyond the two week limit should return the item(s) to the library and have a new return date stamped on the date due card.  On rare occasions these users may ask to have renewals done via the telephone.
 

BOOK RETURN :

The Library's book return container is situated next to the entrance to the Law Library.  You are urged to make use of this facility when the library is closed.  However, books should not be placed in the book return when the Library is open in order to avoid paying fines.
 

FINES :

Fines are charged for damage to, or late return of books.
 
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Reserve Books

Overnight books must be returned before 10:00 a.m on the date due.  For student borrowers a fine of $1.00 per hour per book becomes payable immediately thereafter, and fines continue to accumulate at the rate of $1.00 for each subsequent hour or part thereof, starting at 10:00 a.m.  Days on which the library is closed are excepted.

 POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Reserve books:

The fines are as stated above for undergraduates.

Open shelf books:

The fine for late return of books in this category is $1 per day.

OUTSIDER USERS

Persons in this category whose items become overdue will pay a fine of $2.00 per day for each overdue item.

DAMAGE AND LOSS OF BOOKS :

Unauthorized removal, minor damage or defacement of Law Library materials renders a user liable to a fine not exceeding Bds.$25.00, at the discretion of the Law Librarian.

The reader must pay the cost of replacing a lost or seriously damaged book or other item, in addition to any fine which he may have incurred before reporting the loss or damage.
(UWI Calendar, vol 1., 1978, p. 129, Regulation 15).

Overnight borrowing privileges are automatically suspended until all outstanding fines are paid, and overdue material returned. Failing this :-

1. The Law Library will send a list of names to the Campus Bursar prior to the commencement of exams; and
2. Students who are in bad standing prior to the examination periods may not be permitted to sit  examinations.

PERSONS IN BAD STANDING :

The names of all those who are not in good standing with the library - that is, those who, after due notice, have failed to return overdue items or have failed to pay fines or the cost of items lost or damaged will be submitted to the Principal for further action. (UWI Calendar, vol 1., 1978, p. 129, Regulation 16)

A list will also be placed on the Law Library's entrance door.

CONDUCT IN THE LIBRARY :

Eating, drinking and smoking are forbidden in the law library.

Sitting on tables, or propping feet on tables, chairs, etc. is forbidden.

Students will be permitted to reserve a place for one (1) hour only.  On expiry of that time, if the student has not returned to his/her place, another student may use the place vacated.

Silence must be observed in the reading room. Any member of the Law Library's staff and the security guard may remind users of the need for silence.

Please note that the bell will be sounded on any occasion that the noise level becomes too high.

HANDLING OF LIBRARY BOOKS & MATERIALS :

Reasonable care should be exercised in the use of library books and materials.

No person should remove, destroy or mutilate any part of a book or other material belonging to the library.

Marking publications with pen or pencil is prohibited.

Stacking more than five volumes of reports or statutes on a desk for personal use will not be permitted.
 
Reports and statutes must be reshelved after use.  Any steps necessary to alleviate the problem of untidiness in the library will be taken.  This will include CLOSING THE LIBRARY for specified periods.
 

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