The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-25
GREAT LAW LIBRARY
MINNESOTA HAS ONE OF THE VERY
BEST IN THE UNITED,
STATES
NEW CATALOGUE BEING MADE
Librarian Nelson CohtempIates Pur-
chase of Complete Decisions and
Briefs i'm United States SUI
preme Court Cases.

One of the most important departments
| of the state is the law library despite
| the fact that few people know anything
| about 1T 1t is also one of the busiest
| departments at the capitol, and State
Librarian Nelson has his time we'll taken
up. just at present he is engaged in pre-
pairing complete catalogue of the Ii
brary, a work requiring more than a
years time for it's completion, and which
when completed, will be of incalculable
| value to all persons consulting the Ii
brary This catalogue will be absolutely
complete, listing the 35, 600 volumes ur1der
| three heads, subject author and title.
The library is one of the veryFgbest in
existence in the United States, and Lii
brarian Nelson is working hard to make
1T the equal of the very best. He re-
Gently took trip through the, Eastern
and Middle West states to inspect all Ii
brariesl of like kind to see just how well
Minnesota compared with sether states,
and to take note of any points of ex-
cellence which might be of service in the
development of. the Minnesota library He
found that Minnesota's library was equal
to any west of Massachusetts, and while
the New York and Philadelphia libraries
and few others make a better, showing,
none of them are more complete or up
to date than Minnesotas
The library yesterday received a COM
plete catalogue from one OF the. largest
law publishing concerns in the world,
and on checking up discovered that every
volume advertised by this firm except
one, was already in the library. This in
dldateS how thoroughly up to date the
library is kept. About 5000 volumes are
added every year. and nothing of i'm
portance escapes. There is not a day that
at least fifty lawyers do not consult books
in the library. 1t is of especial impor-
lance to the judges of the supreme court,
and all purchases made are first approved
by this court.
Librarian Nelson is contemplating a
most valuable addition to the library if
it is found that funds will permit the
purchase. This is the complete set of
opinions of the United States supreme
court, together with the briefs and argu-
mentS of counsel in all cases. Very few
libraries in the country possess this
work. The value of such an addition to
the library would be immense. Often
times decisions of the United States SUI
preme court are cited in cases, and law
yers and judges find it necessary to refer
to these decisions. The decisions can al
ways be obtained but are often brief
and give no statement of the case. With
the briefs in the case before him, the
lawyer or the judge can see the case
from the advantageous viewpoint of the
court that gave the decision, thereby
getting clearer understanding of the
courts Interpretation. i9,0
During his recent trip, Librarian Mel
son took notes of everything seen in
other libraries in which the home library
was lacking, and will gradually fill up the
few undiscovered. The general public
hears little of this institution, but the
lawyer and the judge use it continually
and find it of incalcuable value and ass
sistance every Gay.