Tours
Excursions
The waters of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River meet in the area that would become Denver. When gold flakes were discovered at this confluence in 1858, it unleashed the great "Pikes Peak or Bust" gold rush. With the discovery of even more gold in the mountains, Denver obtained its first railroad, and respectability came to the West. The wealth of the mountains was poured into beautiful tree-lined boulevards, expansive parks and elegant mansions.
Today, Denver has become one of the premier cities in the United States. Travel + Leisure Magazine has ranked Denver #3 for "Quality of Life." It is centrally located, taking slightly less time to get from San Francisco as it does from New York City. The excursions for the 103rd AALL Annual Meeting and Conference highlight all the best that Colorado has to offer – check them out and sign up by June 18.
Library Tours
Library tours will be offered during the Annual Meeting to showcase a variety of Denver libraries. There is no charge for these tours, but advance registration is required by June 8. Tours fill up quickly, so be sure to register early. Tours are subject to cancellation if there is insufficient registration.
All tours will begin and end at the Colorado Convention Center. Walking tours will require up to 15 minutes of walking each way and may include the use of public transportation. Due to limited availability, please sign up for only one tour.
Wise Law Library, University of Colorado at Boulder
Bus Tour: 45 minute ride – Limit 20 people
Sunday, July 11 • 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Located in the new Wolf Law Building, The William A. Wise Law Library at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder is the most comprehensive and technologically sophisticated law library in the 12-state Rocky Mountain region. At 59,000 square feet, it is one of the largest law libraries in the country and has nationally recognized collections in the areas of American Indian Law, Constitutional Law and Jurisprudence, and Natural Resources and Environmental Law. Most of the law school's class composite photos, beginning with the Class of 1898, are now hung in the library. These photos give visitors a visual sense of how law school demographics (and hair styles!) changed throughout the 20th century.
The LEED certified Wolf Law Building offers stunning, close-up views of the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies from many windows, and is designed to bring natural light into the core of the building using skylights and interior windows. The building features Internet-based video recording stations, digital information kiosks, and state-of-the-art classrooms with video conferencing capabilities and comprehensive audio-visual systems. With its two high-tech courtrooms, Wolf Law is the setting for actual sessions of state, federal, and tribal appellate courts. Boulder's world-famous Pearl Street, known for its unique shops, restaurants and street performers, is only a short bus ride or walk past the grand Tuscan architecture of the CU campus.
U.S. Courts Library for the Tenth Circuit
Walking Tour: 15 minute walk – Limit 20 people
Monday, July 12 • 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
The U.S. Courts Library for the Tenth Circuit serves the federal courts in the six-state circuit (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming). The Denver Headquarters Library is located in the Byron Rogers U.S. Courthouse on the corner of 19th Street and Stout Street, just five blocks from the Denver Convention Center in Central Downtown. It is part of a five-building federal court complex and is across the street from the historic Byron White U.S. Courthouse, which houses an exceptional display dedicated to the life and career of Supreme Court Justice Byron White.
The White Courthouse is constructed in the neo-classical style and its exterior is now clad in Colorado Yule marble, quarried in Marble, Colorado (the same stone used for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.). The Rogers Courthouse, and attached Federal Office Building, was constructed in the formalist style in 1965 and in 1996/97 was the site of the Timothy McVeigh trial. The Library was completely renovated in 2006. The tour includes visits to the Rogers Courthouse Library and the White Courthouse.
EPA Region 8 Technical Library
Walking Tour: 15 minute walk – Limit 15 people
Monday, July 12 • 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
NOTE: A government-issued photo ID is required for entry to the building. All visitors must pass through a metal detector. Photography is not allowed in the building.
The EPA Region 8 Technical Library provides technical library services to EPA Region 8 staff and makes environmental information and resources easily accessible to the general public who live in a six-state western region. The library's collection includes over 20,000 EPA reports, books, and journals, focusing on environmental issues and conditions unique to the American West, including Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and the 27 sovereign tribal nations. Special collections include: Green Buildings, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Justice, and Western Wetlands.
The Region 8 Library was established in the early 1970s with a collection of handbooks, reports, and printed regulations. After a number of moves over the last 35 years, the library is now housed in a new LEED certified green building in downtown Denver. Depending on staff availability, the tour may include restricted areas of the building, including a cutting-edge "green roof." One of the first roofs of its kind in Colorado, it provides air and water quality benefits, reduces building heating and cooling needs, and features solar panels, a weather station and a large garden of research plants.
Holland & Hart Library
Walking Tour: 15 minute walk – Limit 15 people
Tuesday, July 13 • 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Holland & Hart is the largest law firm in the Mountain West, with over 400 attorneys in 15 offices in seven states. The firm focuses on the industries that thrive along the Front Range, including aerospace, construction, emerging growth companies, energy, life sciences, manufacturing, minerals, natural resources, oil and gas, real estate, recreation and resorts, technology, and telecommunications. The Holland & Hart Library in Denver is composed of five librarians and two support staff that provide for the library resource and service needs of the firm's attorneys and paralegals in all 15 offices.
The Library facilities house a collection that meets the needs of its local attorneys, as well as the changing needs of its far-flung patrons whether two floors or two states away. The Library as a place is designed to be a pleasant work space and gathering area for our Denver users. Although the attorneys come for the still substantial print collection housed in our main library and three satellite libraries, they stay for the amazing views of Denver and the Rocky Mountains from the wall of west facing windows. With substantial work space and computer access, the Library provides a comfortable alternative work space for the Denver attorneys.
Denver Public Library, Western History Department
Walking Tour: 15 minute walk – Limit 20 people
Tuesday, July 13 • 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Denver Public Library's Western History Department is recognized for having one of the outstanding collections of Western Americana in the country. The collection, which opened to the public in 1935, reflects all phases of development of the trans-Mississippi West and includes approximately 200,000 cataloged books, maps, atlases, business records, and scrapbooks; 600,000 photographs; and 3,700 manuscript archives. Collections of special depth include Western railroads publications, reports and maps of Colorado mining companies, trade catalogs, frontier theater programs, land grant materials, and printed memorabilia of Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows.
In 1995, the Western History Collection and the Genealogy Collection merged into one department in 1995, moving into the fifth level of the new Michael Graves library building. The Genealogy Collection, which began in 1910, is the second largest between the Mississippi River and the West Coast and the largest in the Rocky Mountain area. Family history researchers can find material spanning dozens of generations and covering a wide spectrum of ethnic and geographic categories. This portion of the collection includes 60,000, 75,000 pieces of microform, and hundreds of magazine and newsletter titles, charts, clippings, atlases, and manuscripts.
Westminster Law Library, University of Denver
Bus Tour: 15 minute ride – Limit 20 people
Tuesday, July 13 • 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The Westminster Law Library is part of the Sturm College of Law at The University of Denver, a beautiful urban campus which sits on 125 tree shaded acres with fantastic views of the Rocky Mountains. The library is approximately 36,000 square feet and occupies portions of three floors of the law school. The collection is housed on all three levels of the library with service points on each level. Inside the library you'll find The Hughes Room, donated in honor of an 1898 graduate of the law school, Gerald H. Hughes. This room contains several pieces of furniture from the honoree's office as well as over 3,000 volumes from his personal library.
The Sturm College of Law, which opened in its new location in 2003, was the first LEED certified law school in the United States. The physical orientation of the seating on levels 2 and 3 takes advantage of the natural sunlight. Additionally there are light harvesters to conserve energy and a five story "light-well" that allows natural light into the center of the law school. For visitors interested in an exciting alternative mode of transportation to the tour site, take a ride on Denver's new easy-to-use light rail line. The DU campus is located just a few blocks from the train station.
