Riverside County Law Library

Mission:

The goal of the Board of Trustees for the Riverside County Law Library is to make available to the judiciary, state and county officials, members of the state and local bar, and all residents of the county, current legal materials, modern facilities and adequate trained staff, which will enable them to perform the highest level of research and practice

History:

The first official Minutes of the Riverside County Board of Law Library Trustees were recorded on April 28, 1941 and the original collection of a few thousand books were housed in the Chambers of Department 1 in the Superior Courthouse. In 1947, the books were relocated to the former Probation Department in the Courthouse, which increased space and use by the public. A branch collection became available in Indio during the 1950's, with its first full time employee being installed there in 1968.

The rapid growth of the library and its use, as well as the growth of the county, resulted in the construction of a three-story building in 1970 which expanded the Law Library to 10,110 sq. ft. on a ground floor and mezzanine, with the remainder being occupied by the Office of the County Counsel. A beautiful 7,000 sq. ft. addition to the first floor was added in 1992 and the library was named after its long-time Board President, the Honorable Victor Miceli. In 1996, the Desert Branch in Indio moved out of the County Administration Building basement into 5,800 sq. ft. of prime space in the new Larson Justice Center. Because of this and the main library's expansion, Riverside is now ranked 7th in the state's 58 county law library system, following Los Angeles,