About Us

History

The C J Koh Law Library is one of 7 NUS Libraries. The Law Library was originally established in September 1957, catering primarily to the Faculty of Law. It was then situated at the Bukit Timah Campus.

In April 1980, the Library moved to new premises at Kent Ridge, occupying two floors of the new Faculty of Law building. It was later renamed the C J Koh Law Library on 1 January 2001, in memory of the late Mr Koh Choon Joo who gave more than S$5 million towards the upgrading of the library and its collection. On 27 February 2002, the Honourable Chief Justice Yong Pung How presided over the official opening under its new name. Mr Koh's generous donation has enhanced the library's position among the premier libraries of the world.

Following the Government's announcement to reallocate Bukit Timah Campus to NUS on 28 May 2005, the Library made its historic return to its first home in August 2006.

2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the Law Library. A special slideshow featuring a pictorial history of the library was produced in conjunction with our celebrations.

Collections

The strength of the Library's collection traditionally lies in the common law. Singapore legal resources are acquired comprehensively. The library also has extensive collections of legal resources from Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Over the years, however, the library has developed collections on international and comparative law, international trade law as well as the laws of the European Community, the ASEAN nations and the People's Republic of China.

As at 1 July 2008, the volume of books in the library numbered 116,636. Electronic legal databases form a major part of the Library's collection. These include HeinOnline, Justis and LexisNexis.

Services

Apart from basic library services, the C J Koh Law Library also offers:

• library instructional sessions for staff and students of the Faculty of Law;

• indexing of articles in core Singapore legal journals (PERIND); and

• indexing of Singapore legislation (Index to Singapore Subsidiary Legislation (1981-1991) and Index to Singapore Subsidiary Legislation (1991-2006)).