The Center supports the research needs of faculty, students, the University community, and the public. Thirty-eight staff members, including fifteen professional librarians and six lawyer/librarians, are a special asset to faculty and students. In addition to their regular duties, staff members teach legal research classes in the Law School.
The Library is also enhanced by the Hyder collection. Martha Rowan Hyder and her late husband, Elton M. Hyder, Jr., have loaned the Law Library nearly four thousand prints, paintings, manuscripts, furnishings, quilts, rugs, and other materials. The collection illustrates the history of law, and creates a unique and culturally enriching study and work environment for library users and staff.
Beyond the resources of the Joseph D. Jamail Center for Legal Research, a law student may draw upon the University of Texas Libraries, the sixth largest academic library system in the nation. The University Libraries' holdings include comprehensive collections of United Nations publications and British government documents. Other collections include the Center for American History, the Benson Latin American Collection, and Wasserman Library of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. In addition, The University hosts the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, which is across the street from the Law School.