Public law library is Queens’ quiet courthouse wonder
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A small sign welcomes visitors to the Queens Supreme Courthouse’s law library, home to 200-year-old treasures as well as useful contemporary texts. Eagle photo by Rachel Vick.
By Rachel Vick
The wood-paneled library is a quiet oasis for attorneys and court personnel on the sixth floor of the Queens County Supreme Courthouse. A refuge of high ceilings and bound books, the only public-access law library in Queens — tucked away from the courthouse chaos — contains a lot of history and bit of magic.
There are nearly 80 numbered stacks, as well as other shelves, crammed with books behind the doors of Room 65. Tomes find homes on metal shelving or in boxes atop the bookcases. The room is a resource and a respite for lawyers looking to research or to relax.
“I like going there if I’m working a trial or have a break — there’s no attorney lounge or cafeteria here like there are in other courthouses,” said attorney Diana Dileo. “It’s a good place to go.”
Older volumes are stored on the staff-only mezzanine level, accessible by spiral stairs off the side of the main room. There, shelves are tucked behind archways protected by ornate metal guardrails. An open book serves as a centerpiece.
Some finds are relics from legal history, like the 1804 copy of Laws of New York, printed in Albany by brothers Charles R. and George Webster, influential publishers of their day. The volume’s yellowed and age-stained pages are still intact more than 215 years later. Texts in the collection span the history of the United States, and some of the oldest date back to the 18th Century, said librarian Kellie Adams. Those texts are still used to reference historical building codes, Adams said.
A 2011 library inventory indicates that there are 125,000 volumes in the collection. The texts span legal subjects across centuries, focuses, regions and levels of legislation.
The space also has WiFi and desktop computers, along with a microfiche and a printer that costs for 25 cents per page.
High windows on the far wall let natural light cut through the fluorescent glare, as wooden chairs, with seat pads, create an inviting setup for patrons to research and peruse.
The library is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
