Jenkins Law Library is a membership library, located in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, serving the local legal community.

History

The Law Library Company of the City of Philadelphia (

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

's first

law library A law library is a special library used by law students, lawyers, judges and their law clerks, historians and other scholars of legal history in order to research the law. Law libraries are also used by people who draft or advocate for new l ...

) was founded in 1802 by 71 attorneys, among whom were the most prominent lawyers of the time. They formed a corporation so they could jointly purchase a collection of legal materials with which to practice law. Shares of stock in the company were sold for $20; annual dues were $2. In 1827, the Law Library Company merged with the Associated Members of the Bar and became known as the Law Association of Philadelphia. Eventually this organization became known as the ''Philadelphia Bar Association'', and in 1931 the library's name was changed (the first of several name changes) to the Law Library of the Philadelphia Bar Association. The

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

was operated by the Bar Association until July 1, 1967, when the Theodore F. Jenkins Memorial Law Library (now known as Jenkins Law Library) was established with court approval to carry out the provisions of the will of the late Madeleine Hart Jenkins. It was her wish that her late husband, Theodore Finley Jenkins, be memorialized in a manner that would benefit the Bar and the public. Governed by a Board of Directors, Jenkins Law Library is a 501(c)(3). Although now independent from the Philadelphia Bar Association, the two organizations work together on mutual projects that benefit members of the

legal community. When it came time to renovate the Jenkins Law Library in 2004, Executive Director Regina Smith had one thought in mind – make the library a destination for lawyers, not a book warehouse. After more than 30 years at 833 Chestnut Street, in late 2018 Jenkins moved across town to 1801 Market Street, in Ten Penn Center.

References

External links

Jenkins Law Library
{{authority control Center City, Philadelphia 1802 establishments in Pennsylvania Libraries in Pennsylvania Law libraries in the United States