Here in the Law Library all books have a LC call number. However, they may also belong to a sub collection. A record for any book that is part of the American Law collection will give only the call number. If the book is part of a sub collection, the collection’s name will appear before the call number.

The Sub Collections

Boyd – Otherwise known as the Willard Boyd Presidential Collection. The collection contains more than 2,500 volumes by and about United States Presidents, First Ladies, and presidential candidates.

CORE – These are some of the most important books of your legal education. They are primary source materials on case law. These books include court cases on a national and regional level, codes from the federal government and the state of Iowa, plus additional materials to help students understand the cases and issues that make up the law.

Rare Book - The Rare Book Room houses rare and irreplaceable books, manuscripts, and special collections. 

Fiction – Also known as the Legal Fiction Collection. This collection consists of approximately one thousand works of popular and literary fiction, many with legal themes in their storylines.

Law Documents Collection - The Law Library became a selective United States Government Documents Depository Library in 1968. Current selections of United States Government Documents include approximately 27% of the items available on the Federal Depository Library Program. Our most heavily collected items include Congressional publications, Department of Justice publications, and regulatory materials from selected governmental agencies.

Oversize – This collection includes books that are simply too large to be on a standard sized shelf.

Reserve – Many high demand books are kept in the Reserve collection. Professors are able to add to this collection when they want to make sure a book is kept available for his/her students.

For more information on the Law Library’s sub collections, visit Law Library Collections.