Collections

With more than 375,000 titles and 90 database subscriptions, the library collection supports the work of Vermont Law and Graduate School students, faculty and staff. The library is open to the public, however, borrowing privileges are restricted to current members of the Vermont Law and Graduate School community. Interlibrary loan requests may be placed with partner academic libraries, and the Community Legal Information Center self-help law books are available onsite and via Vermont public libraries.

The VLGS library offers all reported federal court decisions and federal codes and session laws through multiple electronic databases including Westlaw, Lexis, and HeinOnline. Treaties and international agreements, federal regulations and administrative decisions, U.S. congressional materials, state court decisions, codes,  session laws, regulations and administrative decisions are included. Along with citators and indexes, an extensive reference collection with standard and legal dictionaries, legal biographies, encyclopedia, and study aids for doctrinal law courses are available. Periodicals in print and electronic formats include the most-cited law reviews and journals as well as an extensive collection of environmental, science, social science, policy, and current news titles.

Cornell Library’s environmental collection was established in 1984 to consolidate the school’s environmental materials in one location, making those materials easier for patrons to locate and browse. Housed on the library’s Loft Level, it is the only dedicated environmental collection at an American law school and includes about 19,000 volumes that support the wide range of environmental programs offered at VLGS in the law and graduate schools. Covering legal, policy, and science topics, patrons can use this collection to research pollution, energy development, food and agriculture, farm animals, environmental justice, water resources, land use, and other issues related to the environment in the United States and abroad. The collection has also grown to include thousands of ebooks that cover the same range of topics. As a whole, the collection continues to evolve as new topics are introduced to the environmental field.

Explore environmental law and science topics on our research guides.

Environmental Law ResearchSources (ELRS) is a collection of public websites on specific environmental topics.

Beyond the robust Vermont legal materials available through subscription electronic research platforms such as Westlaw, Lexis, and HeinOnline, we have curated expansive web offerings into a Vermont Law Research Guide.

Deliberate attention is given to developing the library’s unique collections of Vermont treatises and content. The library has a centrally located Vermont Reference section containing Vermont-specific primary and secondary source subscriptions, and high-demand Vermont historic materials. Additional print format Vermont materials are located in the main collection.

Ebook and Streaming Video Collections

The library offers hundreds of thousands of electronic books to the VLGS residential and online communities. The ebook collection parallels the general collection, with an emphasis on U.S. and international law and policy; environmental law; agriculture, ecology and related science topics; criminal and restorative justice; political and social science; and much more. The library also subscribes to streaming video collections, showcasing hundreds of documentaries about topics relevant to the VLGS curriculum.

Browse ebooks at Ebook Central, watch films at Docuseek and Kanopy,or use the catalog search box at the top of this page to locate items by keyword or title.

Archives, Rare Books, and Special Collections

These collections support the library’s mission by preserving, organizing, and making accessible historic materials related to Vermont legal issues and items that document the life of the school. Examples of material include: early American law books, faculty publications, promotional materials and event programs, VLGS publications such as bulletins, catalogs, and newsletters, photographs of campus life, and reports issued by school committees, offices, and officials which have enduring administrative, legal, fiscal, or historical value to the school.

Rare Books

Housed in the Cornell Seminar Room on the library’s Loft Level, the Rare Book Collection contains hundreds of print volumes dating back to the 1600s. Most of the collection consists of Vermont materials, starting with books published before our state was founded and going into the 1900s. Topics such as primary law, historical figures, and Vermonters’ daily life are covered by these materials. The collection also contains a variety of British legal materials, including our oldest book from 1647, which discusses English wastewater law. Some notable books in the collection include China Journal by one of the library’s namesakes, Virginia S. Cornell, and a first-edition copy of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This collection does not circulate, but patrons can view materials in the library upon request.

James L. ​​​Oakes Collection

Biographical Sketch of Judge James L. Oakes (1924-2007)​

James Lowell Oakes was born in Springfield, Illinois on February 21, 1924. He attended Harvard University (A.B., 1945) and Harvard Law School (LL.B., 1947), graduating cum laude from both institutions.

In 1950 was admitted to the Vermont Bar. Shortly thereafter, he became a partner in the Bennington, VT law firm of Gannett & Oakes (1950-1964) and Gannett, Oakes & Weber (1964 -1966). He was ever after a resident of the state. Oakes had a brief career in Vermont state politics, serving as a state senator from Windham County from 1961 to 1965. He was later elected Attorney General, and served from 1967 until 1969.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Judge Oakes to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, where he served but one year until May of 1971. In May, President Nixon elevated him the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. In January of 1989, he was appointed Chief Judge of the Second Circuit. He stepped down as Chief Judge in 1992, but remained on the Court under Senior Judge status until he retired in January of 2007. The closing of his office on Pearl Street in New York in January of 2007 ended a nearly 37-year career as judge.

Judge Oakes was on the Board of Trustees for the Vermont Law School (now the Vermont Law and Graduate School) for 30 years, was honored by having the main building named for him, and was a awarded a Doctor of Laws honorary degree by the Vermont Law School in 1995.​

The Papers of the Honorable Judge James L. Oakes

In January 2007, Judge James L. Oakes donated to Vermont Law School a collection of his papers dealing with environmental issues as well as cases deemed noteworthy by Judge Oakes and several of his law clerks. The papers are held in the archives of the Julien and Virginia Cornell Library at Vermont Law & Graduate School.

Download the Complete Guide to the Papers of the Honorable Judge James L. Oakes.

Federal Depository Library Program

The library is a congressionally-designated depository for U.S. Government documents. Public access to the government documents collection, including the FDLP Basic Collection, is guaranteed by federal law (Title 44 of the United States Code).