Kern County Law Library

Open to the Public
 Monday - Friday
 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

1415 Truxtun Ave., Rm. 301
 Bakersfield, CA 93301
 Phone: (661)868-5320
Fax: (661)868-5368
Email: lawlibrary@co.kern.ca.us
 Website: www.kerncountylawlibrary.org

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A BRIEF HISTORY:
 On December 14, 1891, the Kern County Law Library Association organized the Kern County Law Library under the County Law Library Act of that same year. The Law Library’s first quarters are recorded as "The Rooms of the Kern County Law Library Association", location of which has not been established. Later the books were moved to the chambers of the Superior Court, then located in the court house.

Upon completion of the new courthouse in 1912, the Law Library was housed on the third floor, in space equivalent to a superior courtroom. The Law Library remained at this location until the earthquake of 1952 rendered the courthouse uninhabitable. After being without a home for five months, on January 8th of 1953 the library began moving into the temporary library building erected by the Board of Supervisors at 17th & K streets. Although only temporary quarters, the Law Library was housed here for over six years until June of 1959 when it moved into the new Administrative and Courts building, it's present location.

The library Board of Trustees appointed the first librarian, Rachel Scates, in 1903, on a part-time basis at $15.00 a month. Naomi Tiller, Anna Price and Harriet E. Carlock successively filled the position until Miss Carlock’s resignation in 1920. At this time the Trustees temporarily placed the library in the care of Julia B. Babcock, the county librarian. In October of 1921 Herbert V. CLAYTON, Alice Pray, Harriet B. Stovall, J.C. Reavis and H.A. Peairs filled the position of librarian in turn. In 1931 the position of Librarian became full-time and was given to Dorothy Earl (Mrs. C.E. Arnold). She held the position from 1931 to 1936. When she stepped down in 1936 Peggy Cooke and James Vizzard filled in until the Trustees appointed Else E. Richards in June of 1937, who remained librarian for over 30 years, retiring in 1968. Eleanor Hauser, appointed in 1968, held the position of librarian until her retirement. Mirian Smerker, who was librarian from 1975 to 1991, replaced her. Upon her retirement Mary Gaede became librarian. She retired in 1995 and our current librarian Annette Heath was appointed.

MISSON:
 Our purpose is to provide the legal community and citizens of Kern County with access to legal information services.

Our goal is to provide current legal materials in a timely manner, so everyone may have equal access to justice. Assistance in using the collection shall be provided by the staff.

We have been serving Kern County since 1891 as a nonprofit special district funded, not by tax dollars, but a portion of civil filing fees for the Superior Court of Kern County.

REFERENCE ASSISTANCE:

  • Photocopies: A self-service copier is available at $.20 per page. The copier accepts $1 bills, change and copy cards. Copy cards may be purchased in $5.00 increments.
  • Fax Service: it is $1.00 per page to send or receive a fax.
  • Interlibrary loans: Material not contained in our collection may be borrowed from another library. Fees vary.
  • Typewriter: Available at no charge for public use. A 30-minute time limit is enforced when others are waiting.
  • CD-ROM Materials: Four computer terminals equipped with publications on CD-ROM are available for public use. Material printed from the CD-ROM’s is $ .10 per page. Floppy disks may be purchased for $2.00 for downloading. Please see staff for a complete list of available CD-ROM’s.
  • Internet Access: Available on all four of our computer terminals. Access is free, but each individual must have a user agreement on file
  • Judicial Council Forms via the Internet: Forms can be filled out online and then printed We charge $.10 per page.
  • MCLE Tapes: We offer various audio and video tapes that may be rented for three days at the cost of $3.00 per set.
  • E-mail - Depending upon the material needed we may be able to send it via email. We charge a flat fee of $5.00. Please see staff for more details.

THE COLLECTION:
 Our collection consists of 23,000 + volumes and includes:

  • Federal statutes, administrative regulations, and court and administrative agency decisions
  • California statutes, administrative regula-tions, and court and administrative agency decisions
  • California State & Local court rules
  • Bakersfield Municipal Code, Kern County Code, Delano Municipal Code, Ridgecrest Municipal Code
  • California & Federal research tools includ-ing - digests, form books, Shepard’s, CEB, Rutter Group, jury verdicts, jury instruc-tions & CD-ROM’s
  • Legal periodicals & newspapers
  • Self-help publications

We also have two “Virtual Law Library” branches, one in the Cerro Coso Community College Learn-ing Resource Center and the other in the Library at Taft College. Both consist of a computer terminal with access to legal materials through CD-ROM’s. For more information visit our webpage or inquire at any of the Libraries.

24/7: 24/7

24/7 Reference is a new service that lets you ask questions and get answers, in real time, right here on the Internet, from live reference staff.
Click here to find out more about this service

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