Page 143 - Training for librarianship; library work as a career

CHAPTER XI

Law Libraries

Few men are forced to rely so extensively
on books as the lawyer. The lawyers' books
are the tools with which he works; without
them his work is practically impossible. The
law library is his workshop ; in that and in the
com'ts he must spend the major part of his
time. Yet his success in the court-room rests
very definitely on his success in using books,
for it is in connection with these that he must
prepare his cases for trial. In his law library
he not only learns what the law is, but how it
has been and is to be apphed, and what prece-
dents have been established which he must
perforce follow. The competent attorney
learns early how to use the law library and
always maintains his contact with the more
important legal literature. To him the
library is an armory wherein he prepares him-
self for his legal battles, and if we follow out
the analogy, the librarian is the skilled
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