Author: Maryanne Daly Doran

Unwind with Crochet!

Many law students have commented on the adorable, crocheted animals on display at the reference desk.  Created by librarians and staff at UConn Law through the library’s inaugural Crafting Club, we have fielded many questions on these creations and requests to learn to do the same!

Want to make one of your own? Did you know that in addition to being fun, that crocheting promotes mindfulness and wellbeing?  Crocheting promotes a sense of calm and relaxation, mindfulness, encourages creativity and self-expression and is a form of self-care.

UConn Law's Office of Student Affairs and UConn Law Library are partnering up to offer a mindfulness activity where you can learn to crochet, create and relax!


Crochet Workshop for UConn Law Students

Monday, 12/11

12:30-2pm

4th floor Lounge, Library (room 413)



Come join us to learn how to crochet an mini octopus ( adorably coined "Octopup" by librarian extraordinaire and newly minted crocheter,  Tanya Johnson) to take home with you!

Check out the image below of the two crocheted “Octopups”.  All supplies will be provided and no experience necessary! Stop by during Reading Period on December 11, and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of crocheting!

crocheted maroon and purple tiny octopuses

Connecticut’s Contribution to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has origins in New England where it was centered and observed in various local and provincial celebrations.  Some sources state that Colony of Connecticut is given credit for initially adopting an annual day of general Thanksgiving.  The first proclamation was called for September 18, 1639, and two others were on record in 1644 and 1649. These are significant because civil authorities proclaimed this day of thanksgiving and focused on general blessings and thanks for well-being which was a step toward the holiday we know today.

Attempts to verify these claims of the Colony of Connecticut's role by locating and verifying primary sources initially proved to be challenging.  General "Googling"  and trusted databases failed to bring up any primary sources supporting this assertion. What's a law librarian to do?  Head to HeinOnline!

Alongside many offerings, HeinOnline features Prestatehood Legal Materials – a one-stop source of information about the primary sources of law during the colonial and territorial periods of states. The first proclamations of its sort were found in
The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, (1850-1890).

Here it was astounding to see the earliest records all the way back to August 16th, 1639 (and multiple variations of our present day spelling of “public”) where the Colony of Connecticut decided to name a day of Thanksgiving for general blessings:

"It was concluded that there be a publique day of thanksgiving in these plantacons uppon the 18th of the next month." 

On October 25, 1644 the court  ordered:

"Its ordered, there shalbe a publike day of thanksgiving through this Jurisdiction, uppon Wensday com fortnight."

Another order was declared on December 5, 1649:

It is ordered by this Courte, that there shall bee a publick day of Thanksgiving kept by all the Churches within this Jurissdiction that may bee seasonably acquainted therewith, uppon this day fortnight.

For more information on how Thanksgiving became an annual, national holiday as well as controversies surrounding it (albeit sans Connecticut Colony's contribution) head to the HeinOnline Blog: The History and Controversy of Thanksgiving.   Regardless, we hope you take a moment to enjoy Thanksgiving and contemplate Connecticut's historic contribution to the tradition we enjoy today.

Search result from HeinOnline's Prestatehood materials database.

International Education Week 2023

UConn Law celebrates International Education Week this November 13-17.  International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education that is celebrated on campuses across the country.

At UConn School of Law, this week is a chance to celebrate our robust international student population, notably students in our LLM and Exchange programs, and the global perspective that they bring to the UConn Law community.  UConn Law also features 16 study abroad programs this week, which give law students the unique opportunity to study law in another country.

The Law School events for International Education Week are featured below and also on the events calendar on the public calendar - all are welcome to join and see how this year's theme of “International Education Is the Future" is so relevant on our vibrant campus!

Flyer with dates for International Education Week

Mental Health and Wellness at UConn Law

Water pouring next to stacked rocks

Fall is beautiful in Connecticut!  Leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and there are apple cider donuts around every corner. However, for law students, Fall is also when coursework and extra-curricular activities begin to pile up and deadlines start to feel more imminent than the first hard frost.  Luckily for students at UConn Law, the library and staff have prepared resources to help students power through the Fall season. 

UConn Law offers various resources to help you recognize mental health concerns as well as resources available to help you focus on your well-being.  The UConn Law Office of Student Affairs staff is located in One Stop on the second floor of the library. Students can also book an appointment to talk with our On-Campus Mental Health Counselors through the UConn Law Student Portal.  

The following initiatives available to UConn Law students are offered in partnership with Student Health and Wellness at UConn-Storrs.   

  • BeWell offers free and confidential mental health support 24 hours a day, every day. Call (833) 308-3040 (or from outside the United States +44-20-8987-6588) for in-the-moment support from a counselor, regardless of your location, to help you manage your concerns.  
  • Togetherall is a completely anonymous online peer-to-peer mental health support community available free to UConn students 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Togetherall provides access to an online community and a wealth of useful resources, including self-help courses covering topics such as anxiety, sleep, depression and more. Register with your UConn email at: https://account.v2.togetherall.com/register/student
  • Kognito is an on online interactive training that lets you practice conversations with virtual students.  You’ll learn how to determine when a friend needs help, how to talk with a friend who you’re worried about, and where you and your friend can turn to for help.  It can be difficult to discuss these types of scenarios, but an effective conversation can help more than you think—it can help change someone’s life. The online module runs for approximately 40 minutes and connects users with a coach and walks through various scenarios.
  • Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Connecticut offers free and confidential peer support, support groups and other mental health resources to all attorneys, judges and law students in Connecticut.
      Two cups of cocoa in fall setting.

      Finally, there are numerous supportive resources online:

      Don't forget to stop by the Mental Health and Wellness display at the library across from the access service desks. The display features books for managing stress, coloring activities to go, and more!  Grab what you need, take it home (remember, UConn Law students, staff and faculty can check out circulating books for 90 days) and always remember that the library is rooting for you! 

      Pile of rocks near ocean

      Congo Week: Colonialism, Coltan, and Cell Phones

      Boy holding cell phone

      If we are sitting on all this wealth, why are we so poor?  Maurice Carney

      Young boys mining in Africa
      Photo courtesy of Congoweek.org

      UConn Law’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Energy and Environmental Law Society (EELS), Human Rights Law Association (HRLA) and National Lawyers Guild (NLG) are sponsoring the first annual Congo Week from October 15-20.

      Congo Week's activities commemorate the millions of lives lost in the Congo Conflict while celebrating the enormous human and natural potential that exists in the country. The goal is to raise global consciousness about the situation in the Congo and advocate for peace, justice and human dignity in partnership with the Congolese people.   

      Toni-Ann Gayle is the catalyst for organizing Congo Week at UConn Law. For Gayle, the global issues related to the Congo were important enough to seek the position of Community Service Chair at BLSA.  Last Semester, fellow law student Kwaku Aurelien from the NLG  moderated a symposium featuring Maurice Carney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo. This event highlighted the situation in the Congo, and was what sparked Gayle's interest in bringing Congo Week to UConn Law. 

      The Congo holds the world’s largest deposits of coltan, an essential component for cellphones, play stations and other electronic devices. Gayle notes, “It is mind boggling for us to walk around, complicit in our lives, using our tablets, cell phones and laptops, without understanding the enormous human cost that gives us these conveniences.”   

      Gayle urges UConn law students to recognize there are many things they can do to affect change in the lives of the Congolese.  One action item is the “Cell Out” - a digital moment of silence starting at 12 noon on Wednesday, October 18th. Gayle encourages all students to turn off their phone for at least one hour, refrain from texting and encourage those in your circle to do the same. Activities abound throughout the UConn Law campus to raise awareness of this global issue. This week of recognition exemplifies the mantra by Martin Luther King, Jr., which Gayle abides by everyday:

      “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  

      For more information on Congo week check out the following: 

      Lake with Mountains
      Lake Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

      Who Owns the Beach? New Exhibit at UConn Law Library!

      Star fish and ocean

      “If a man with a family wants a nice, quiet place to swim on Long Island Sound, he’d better buy a cottage on the shore.” 1

      Our Connecticut Beaches Exhibit at UConn Law Library shines a light on the obstacles in-and out-of-towners face just to have access to the beaches that border the Long Island Sound. The exhibit notes the efforts by many to open access to the beaches.

      Hartford activist Ned Coll began his struggle to open beaches to all residents in the 1970s bringing children from Hartford to see the beach and sound which, for many, was the first time.  Andrew Kahrl's book, Free the Beach, available at UConn Law Library, documents Coll's crusade to open access to Connecticut's coast.  In 1995, Brenden Leydon sued the Town of Greenwich challenging their coding laws regarding access to their town beach. The Connecticut Supreme Court ultimately presided over this case where  Leydon v. Town of Greenwich relied on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as the free speech clauses of the Connecticut Constitution. The Court held that the Greenwich Point Park was a “public forum” which must be open to “expressive activity” of any kind — and that to limit the park to non-residents would prevent them from exercising those rights.

      The issue of coastal access reverberates today. As recently as 2023, the Connecticut legislature introduced Raised Bill 6650, in part, “To ensure that the development, preservation or use of the land and water resources of the coastal area proceeds in a manner consistent with the rights of private property owners and the capability of the land and water resources to support development, preservation or use without significantly disrupting either the natural environment or sound economic growth.”

      Fairfield Beach crowd view
      Colorized postcard of Fairfield Beach, c. 1932 permalink: http://hdl.handle.net/11134/80002:262 Fairfield Museum and History Center, Postcard Collection

      Zoning and excessive non-resident fees are also part of the challenge. Non-residents and out-of-state visitors are dissuaded from coming to the beaches due to extremely high seasonal pass rates. One town beach charges a daily fee of $45 for non-residents weekday, $70 weekend, or $545 for the season. Residents pay $60 for a season pass.

      On top of this, all beachgoers have strict restrictions on what is allowed on the beach: no dogs, no drinks, no floaties, no sports, among other items. This is done to avoid, as one town termed, the “Jerseyfication” of their beaches, meaning they did not want the character of their beaches and towns disrupted with the threat of “honky-tonk style” venues opening in their towns.

      The reality, however, is that while their beaches aren’t being turned into such places, they also aren’t being fully enjoyed by all of Connecticut. New Journal author Paola Santos summarizes that in her article reflecting on beaches in her home state of California, “[i]n essence, too many public beaches in Connecticut have become country clubs.” Despite many attempts to change the situation over the years, little has changed.

      This leaves us with a vital question: who really owns the beach? Visit our exhibit and decide for yourself.

      Connecticut beaches are gated in ways that should be offensive to every resident of those towns.  Quotes with beach backdrop.
      https://thenewjournalatyale.com/2022/12/barred-waters/

      Newsflash! Read the New York Times and Wall Street Journal on your Phone!

      Stack of Newspapers

      Digital Access to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal is available to all current law students, faculty and staffOnce signed up, you can read the publications on your computer or phone apps! 

      New York Times 

      Students, faculty, and staff can create an account to view the New York Times website by following the instructions from our catalog.  To create an account, complete your registration (use your UConn email address and create a password!)  

      Once you have an account, you can access the New York Times from anywhere on any device by going to http://www.nytimes.com and logging in with your username and password. You can access from the New York Times app on your phone as well.  

       Wall Street Journal 

      Wall Street Journal access is provided by the UConn School of Business to all active students, faculty and staff at the University.  You can activate your complimentary membership by logging on to this link (you will be prompted for your NetID and password to activate your subscription using this link):  Wall Street Journal Sign Up. To access the WSJ from your phone, simply download the app and log in with your credentials.  

      Happy Reading!

      Frequently Asked Questions!

      Question Marks

      We are a week into the new semester and are so excited to welcome (back) everyone!  Here are some of the most common questions we’ve seen at the front desk.  This way you can make the most of your time here on campus and focus on other things like getting ready for class!

      1. What are Course Reserves?

      One copy of all required textbooks from each class is kept on reserve at the library.  To check them out (four hours at a time) just stop by the Access Service desk to see if it is available.

      To return them when the library is open, just bring those books back to the front desk.  If you put them in the drop box, you may end up getting late fines, and you also deny your fellow students the ability to check the book out for themselves.

      1. What’s the scoop with Study Aids?

      In addition to electronic study aids such as Quimbee, Cali and West Academic Study Aids, did you know you can also check out print copies of numerous study aids at the library?

      For example, you can check out Emanuel's, Nutshells and Examples and Explanations (AKA "E & E's) for Civil Procedure from Course Reserves at the front desk.   We even have copies of the trusty Blue Book if you happen to forget it!

      For more info on study aids broken down by topic, check out this research guide.

      1. Where are the printers and scanners located?

      WEPA stations are located in the Computer Lab (Library 2nd Floor) and the Library 3rd and 4th Floor. Printing costs $0.08 per side (black and white) and $0.35 per side (color). Students may upload print jobs from their own laptops directly to WEPA

      The Law Library provides two sheetfeed and book-eye scanners on the 3rd Floor of the Law Library, adjacent to the Circulation Desk.  Also, don’t forget that it’s free to print material from Lexis to the Lexis printer also located on the 2nd floor!

      1. Where can I find a filtered water fountain/fill station?

      While there are a number of water fountains all over campus, the fill stations are located in a few specific spots.  From the front desk of the library, we often tell people to go through the double doors and take a right down the hallway to find the one we have in our building.  Otherwise, there is a station in the gym in Knight, and two in Hosmer, one of the first floor and one on the second.  They are located down the hallways amongst the faculty offices, so maybe say hi to a professor while filling up!

      1. How can I get my hands on library materials?

      You are always welcome to come into the building and pull things from the shelves yourself and check them out at the front desk, and reference librarians love to help locate them if you need a helping hand.  During the pandemic, we also created a new on-demand service called Library2Go.  It’s still a thing!  Check out our page explaining the Library2Go pickup and digital scanning service.  

      Always remember that we are here to help and available to answer any questions you may have.  Stop by the front desk anytime to say "hi" or feel free to reach out to us electronically: https://libraryh3lp.com/chat/uconnlaws-queue@chat.libraryh3lp.com?identity=Librarian&skin=15576

      Welcome Back to the Stacks!

      Bird's eye image of inside of library with students studying at desks.

      Welcome to the UConn Law Library! We are eager to get to know the ILs as you become begin your law school journey and are thrilled to welcome back the 2 and 3L students!  The library staff are here to aid in a successful transition to law school and excel in your academic year.  We offer a variety of services and resources to support you in your learning and research:

      Study Rooms

      Our study rooms are available for group study! Students can reserve a seat at  s.uconn.edu/lawlibstudyrooms, by scanning the QR code outside the room you want to use, or by clicking the quick link on the Law Library homepage. Each student can reserve a room for up to two hours per day.  We ask that you please cancel your reservation if you no longer need it so that other students can use the space. You can always reschedule for another time that day as long as the time block is available. View the entire study room policy here.

      Library2Go

      Library2Go is a free book and article retrieval service. Simply request a book from the library’s collection and it will be retrieved and checked out to you. Need a book chapter or an article from a print journal? We will scan and email material that falls within our copyright guidelines.  For more information on UConn’s Copyright Policy, click here. Please allow for 5 business days to fulfill your requests. Learn more about Library2Go here.

      Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

      Need a book, chapter, or article that the Law Library doesn’t own? Law students, faculty, and staff can request these items using our ILL system, tILLapia. Staff will do their best to obtain the item from libraries all around the world. Just like Library2Go, scans will be emailed, and physical items will be made available across from the Circulation Desk. To learn more about ILL or to submit a request, click here.

      Reference Services

      The Reference team is here to answer your research questions. While they can’t do your homework for you or give legal advice, they can show you the ropes and help you when you get stuck in your research.   You can schedule a research consultation or find them at the reference desk on the main floor of the library. You can also email them at refdesk.lawlib@uconn.edu, call (860) 570-5200, or chat with them online.

      Course Reserves

      The Law Library keeps one copy of each required textbook that can be checked out at the Circulation Desk on short-term loan.   Please be mindful that we only have one copy to share with you and all your fellow classmates!  The Law Library also has study aids that will cater to a variety of different learning styles. For more information, check out the Study Aids section in our Student Toolkit.

      The law library is a welcoming space to research, study and relax.  More questions?  You can find us at the Circulation Desk on the main floor of the Law Library, by email at lawlibrary@uconn.edu, or by calling (860) 570-5012.  Stop by with any questions or just to say "hi"!  We can't wait to see you all!

       

      Summer Reads at UConn Law Library!

      Book next to beach

      Looking for a summer read before returning for Fall semester? Did you know that the law library has popular reading materials available for check out to law students?   

      The reading lounge collection located right by the access services desk features entertainment and leisure reading. Examples include literary fiction, pop culture, and popular legal titles.  

      A recent perusal found such titles as The Partner Track, now a limited series on Netflix.  Read here how this book made the transition to a Netflix Series.

      book cover The Partner Track
      Netflix The Partner Track Image

      A quick scan resulted in titles such Hillbilly Elegy, and Maid also adapted to film on Netflix! (can we pick them, or can we pick them?)  

      Also available are the timeless  Harry Potter series and a variety of titles by John Grisham. No matter what your preference is, you are bound to something to read for pleasure before the semester begins.  

      Current students can borrow circulating items for 90 days and items can be renewed once.  Plenty of time to read your summer book AND check it out on Netflix before the semester returns! Enjoy!

      book on movie set