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The Journey of Establishing the Law Library for Bhutan’s First Law School

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2025

Ugyen Thinley
Ugyen Thinley*
Affiliation:
Ugyen Thinley (MLIS, BCA) is the Director for Library Resources and Services at the Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law in Bhutan, where he is also a member of the faculty. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Established in 2015 by Royal Charter, the Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law (JSW Law) opened to students in 2017 and is Bhutan’s only law school. This article describes the author’s journey in establishing JSW Law’s library. From earning an MLIS to finalizing construction plans and purchasing materials, the author’s journey was complex and challenging. However, the JSW Law Library is now open and provides faculty and students with a modern space for research and study.

Keywords

BhutanJSW LawJSW Law Librarylaw librariescollection development
Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , Winter 2024 , pp. 222 - 227
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by International Association of Law Libraries

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Footnotes

Editor’s Note: I met Ugyen at the 2024 American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) annual meeting in Chicago. He had received the FCIL-SIS’s Schaffer Grant for Foreign Librarians to attend the conference. He gave a fascinating lecture on his experience creating Bhutan’s first law library, so I asked him if he could write an article about that experience for publication in the IJLI. He kindly agreed.

References

1 National Statistics Bureau, “Bhutan at a glance,” accessed Nov. 15, 2024, https://www.nsb.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/10/Bhutan-At-a-Glance.

2 Gelephu Mindfulness City, “About us,” accessed Nov. 15, 2024, https://gmc.bt/about-us/.

3 The Constitution of Bhutan was enacted on July 18, 2008, and marks the country’s transition from a monarchy to a democratic constitutional monarchy.

4 Childs, M. and Sexton, S., “Starting a new law school library: Successes and challenges,” Legal Information Management 11, no. 3 (2011): 191–97Google Scholar.

5 The Royal Institute of Law, “Master plan for the establishment of the Royal Institute of Law” (Oct. 23, 2013), 15.

6 Library, “Detail Project Report for the establishment of the Royal Institute of Law” (Feb. 6, 2014), 56–58.

7 See American Bar Association Standard 606.

8 See American Bar Association Standards 601(c) and 704.

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10 Library, “Detail Project Report for the establishment of the Royal Institute of Law” (n 6).

11 Judy Stark is a consultant from the White & Case law firm based in Washington, DC.

12 National Assembly of Bhutan, “Parliament Business, Act,” accessed Nov. 14, 2024, https://nab.gov.bt/page/acts.

13 Ibid.

14 Judiciary of Bhutan, “Publications, judgments,” accessed Nov. 14, 2024, https://nationalcouncil.bt/page/acts.

15 Section 96 (A), “Civil and Criminal Procedure Code (CCPC) (Amendment) Act 2011,” which states that the judgment of the Court shall be made accessible in the public domain, including libraries.

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17 Childs and Sexton (n 4).

18 Wangdi, Sonam and Tamang, Kelly Tobden Dorji, “The Perspective of Library Management in Bhutan: Roles, Challenges and Opportunities,” International Information & Library Review 55, no. 4 (2023): 302–31. doi: 10.1080/10572317.2023.2167052 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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21 Royal Institute of Law, “The Programme Advisory Committee Report” (Oct. 22, 2014).

22 Fitzgerald and Lee (n 9).

23 Johnson, L., “The evolving role of digital resources in law school libraries,” International Journal of Legal Information 48, no. 1 (2020): 37–53 Google Scholar.

24 Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law, “Library,” accessed Nov. 14, 2024, https://jswlaw.bt/library/.