The Library Collection

The State Law Library offers an extensive collection of primary and secondary sources with a comprehensive focus on Virginia law. Virginia specific resources include all superseded volumes and annual pocket parts of the Virginia Code, state reporters, CLE publications distributed by the Virginia Law Foundation, and Virginia legal treatises. Beyond Virginia law related material, the library provides access to primary law for the United States and all fifty states, a variety of legal periodicals, and legal treatises including many historic English common law titles. The collection complements the general legal collections held by private law firms in the Richmond area, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Law Library, and the William Taylor Muse Law Library at the University of Richmond.  

Since 2003, the law library has housed Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, preserving papers, photographs, and other materials related to the court and its history. Highlights include oral history interviews of retired judges and justices available on the library’s Appellate Court History website, records of Virginia’s judicial policy making bodies and various departments within the court, and recordings of court events.  

Selection and retention of materials in the law library is made pursuant to a written collection development policy. This policy ensures responsible management of the library's fiscal resources and reflects the legal research needs of the library's primary customer group, the Virginia appellate judiciary.