Charles B. Swartwood Supreme Court Library
The Court System operates and maintains a variety of law libraries. Our primary purpose is to provide books, online resources, and helpful staff so anyone can learn more about the law. By doing this, we help facilitate the just and timely resolution of all matters before the courts.
Have a legal research question? Visit Ask a Law Librarian to get help by live chat, text or email.
District Law Librarian
Christopher Lund
[email protected]
Law Librarian
TBD
Hours
Monday - Friday
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
(Except State Holidays)
Overview
The Charles B. Swartwood Law Library, Chemung County, was established as the Supreme Court Library at Elmira on April 4, 1895 (L.1895, Ch. 231). Originally housed in a county building on Lake Street, the devastating Hurricane Agnes Flood of 1972 resulted in its relocation to the Hazlett Building at 203-205 Lake Street where the library now resides.
Renamed 1992 in honor of an esteemed local jurist, the Hon. Charles B. Swartwood, the library serves the bench, bar, and public in and around the County of Chemung. The library’s collection includes both Federal and New York State primary materials, and general practice treatises, and is maintained in a variety of formats including print, microform, and internet databases via public access computers.
All visitors must pass through a magnetometer upon entering the courthouse.
Directions & Parking
From all directions: Take Route 17 (East or West) to exit 56 (Church Street). Take a left onto Lake Street. The Library is located on the corner of Lake and Market Streets.
Metered parking is available on both Lake and Market Streets. A parking garage is located on the corner of Market and Baldwin Streets. From Lake Street, take a right onto Market Street. At the traffic light, take a left onto Baldwin Street. The entrance to the parking garage is on your left.
Reference Services
Law library staff will assist the judiciary and members of the bar in securing all information they deem necessary in researching legal issues or in the practice of law.
The law library staff will provide legal information to the community by providing access to the materials in the collection. Because of ethical and legal implications surrounding the unauthorized practice of law, library staff cannot interpret the meaning of materials or ascertain their relevance for a patron's particular needs. Staff cannot perform legal research or provide legal advice or render legal opinions or otherwise evaluate a patron's current situation or pending case.
The law library staff will respond to telephone inquiries for cite checks and brief definitions. Staff will not answer telephone inquiries for information which require research or interpretation of legal materials.
Circulation
Admitted attorneys and court personnel who have registered at any of the New York State Court Law Libraries may borrow circulating materials from the Charles B. Swartwood Law Library subject to the circulation rules of this library.
Borrower application/registration forms may be obtained from the staff at any of the Sixth District Law Libraries. At least one form of identification [including but not limited to: valid NYS driver's license, Attorney Registration number, or student identification number] AND proof of current address must be presented in person before borrowing privileges will be issued. All circulation records are kept strictly confidential (CPLR § 4509).
All circulating items, unless otherwise specified, may be borrowed for a period of 7 days. Overdue materials will be subject to a fine.
Materials borrowed from the Charles B. Swartwood Law Library should be returned to this library only, NOT a branch of the Southern Tier Library System [Big Flats, Elmira Heights, Horseheads, Southside, West Elmira, and the Steele Memorial Library]. Failure to return materials to the appropriate library may result in overdue charges being imposed on the patron until the items are received in satisfactory condition.
Interlibrary Loans
The law library will attempt to obtain books and other library materials through interlibrary loan from other court libraries within the Unified Court System of New York. Although the library staff will strive to obtain materials at no cost to the patron, any charges for the loan of materials are determined by the lending library and are passed on to the patron initiating the loan request. The patron will be notified as to any charges prior to finalization of the loan
Chemung County Resources
Area Businesses & Events:
Chemung County Chamber of Commerce
Colleges:
Elmira College
Libraries:
Southern Tier Library System