Small Beginnings
The Law Library of The University of Hong Kong came into being in September 1969 with the establishment of the Department of Law under the Faculty of Social Sciences. At this time there was no room on campus, therefore both the Law Library and the Department of Law were housed temporarily in 154-158 Caine Road, in a three-storey block of flats previously used as police officers' married quarters. This remained the Law Libraries home until the Knowles building was commissioned on main campus some three later.
Creating a good library
An urgent task in the early days was the acquisition of books and periodicals, which was accomplished using an initial basic list of materials covering the English Legal System, Legal History, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Contract, Tort, Property, and Criminal Law. The acquisition plan included using one publisher for all English materials, an American dealer for American items, and active searches for large second-hand sets. Additionally, around 1,000 law books were transferred to the new law library from the Main Library and form the Department of Extra-mural Studies, which then offered part-time evening courses leading to the external Bachelor of Laws (LLB) of the University of London.
Opening just in time
The Department opened in September 1969 with three academic staff and an intake of 40 students. The Law Library, with its stock in place, opened for student use at the end of September with about 1,500 volumes and places for 28 readers.
In July 1973, the Department of Law and the Law Library moved to the main campus, sharing the fifth floor of the newly built Knowles Building. Occupying a total area of 366 m², the library provided accommodation for 68 readers and about 14,000 volumes. Alteration work carried out in 1976 and 1982 extended the library and brought reader spaces up to 140, but these gains were soon offset by raising numbers and rapid growth of the book stock.
The long-awaited move from the Knowles Building to the K.K. Leung Building substantially increased the library area to over 1,500 m², providing 265 study place4s for study places for readers, almost double what could be provided in the Knowles Building premises, With new shelving and furniture, and large windows on all sides, the new environment provided a major upgrade and was much appreciated by all.
During a five-year period, two major renovation projects took place. In 1996, the furnishings were improved and the computer network upgraded. In 2001, a compact storage system - the first of its kind for the HKU Libraries - was installed to accommodate the growing law journals collection.
In 1997, the law library was named after Dr Lui Che Woo in recognition for his generous donation.
With continuous expansion, both the Faculty of Law and the Lui Che Woo Law Library had once again outgrown their accommodation. The University's Centennial Campus initiative presents a timely, or long-awaited, opportunity for both Faculty and the Library to move on, this time to a dedicated Law Building. The Cheng Yu Tung Tower is 11 storeys tall, 2 of which the law library occupies. As of now there are 300 study spaces, nearly 150,000 titles in our physical collection, in addition to just short of 70,000 online titles, with access to 55 online legal databases.
