May 25, 2010

Cooley Law School Opens First Phase of $6 Million Library Expansion at Lansing Campus

Space includes student lounge that will be open 24 hours a day

The Thomas M. Cooley Law School today opened the first phase of the $6 million expansion of its Lansing library. The newly opened expansion includes a study hall, accessible 24 hours a day by students, and a 43-seat student lounge. When completed, the expansion will fill the former Lansing Town Center building, a two-story structure between the Cooley Center and the Thomas E. Brennan Law Library on Capitol Avenue.

"This expansion will serve as the Lansing campus' hub for individual study, small group meetings and informal gatherings that enrich the educational experience at Cooley," said Don LeDuc, Cooley’s president and dean. "Offering access to our library 24 hours a day is a great step for Cooley. We need to be available when our students are available, and this expanded center will allow us to do so."

"The need for additional seating for study areas in the library was acute," said James Robb, vice president of development at Cooley. "The limitations of available library study space led us to use the lobby of the Cooley Center as a study hall, a use that was not completely satisfactory for students."

The new library addition, called the Center for Research and Study, is connected to the existing Thomas E. Brennan Law Library, 330 S. Washington Square, located immediately to the east. The building is accessible from an entrance on Capitol Avenue and through the Brennan Law Library.

The second phase of the project will complete renovation of the first floor with a space for additional legal texts and renovate much of the second floor with seating for approximately 429 students, including two 38-seat classrooms and many private study rooms.

"Now, more than ever before, law libraries are at the core of providing a top-notch legal education to the lawyers of tomorrow," said Robb. "Law libraries today are about more than just books, instead serving as centers of study, topical discussions, and social interaction."

Once the full renovation is completed, the Thomas E. Brennan Law Library will nearly double in size to 138,927 square feet, becoming the nation's second largest law school library in physical size.

The project is funded, in part, by $3 million in donations from Cooley alumni and friends. It is the first-ever capital campaign in the school's history. Cooley is matching each donation.

The expansion also updates the library's technology to the latest standards.

"When we renovated the current library structure in 1993, we did not anticipate the transformation in technology that affects how students study, learn, and use the library's resources," said Robb. "This expansion allows us to update the technology to the very best in legal academia."

"The expansion of the Thomas E. Brennan Law Library with the Center for Research and Study will form a crown jewel in downtown Lansing to be noted by legal libraries around the country," said LeDuc. "We're pleased that Cooley alumni and friends are stepping up so quickly to support this growth."

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Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the nation. Founded in 1972, the private, non-profit law school operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. Today, Cooley Law School has nearly 14,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs. Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September. Additional information about Cooley can be found at cooley.edu.