Law Library

Lois C. Davidson Law Library – County Court House

Location

470 Water Street, Peterborough, Ontario, K9H 2N3

GPS Coordinates: 44.307874, -78.317313

Contact

Phone: 705-742-9341

Toll Free: 1-866-556-8395

Fax: 705-742-6173

Email: library@peterboroughlaw.org

Key Contact:

Laura Dobbie

Hours:

Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

 

The History of Lois C. Davidson Law Library – County Court House

The Peterborough Law Association was incorporated on November 12th, 1897 under the Ontario Library Associations and Mechanics Institutes Act. “The purpose shall be the formation of a law library for the use of its members and the taking cognisance of all matters relating to the welfare of the legal profession in the Town and County of Peterborough.”

 For four years the association leased the library from one of its members until, as a result of a lawsuit in 1893, the association decided to purchase its own books. The library has always been located in the county court house, an historic building on the top of the hill overlooking Victoria Park in the centre of Peterborough. The court house was built in 1835 of limestone from nearby Jackson Creek, and is a historically designated building.

The collection was nearly lost in 1916 when sparks from the Quaker Oats Company fire set alight the roof of the court house. There are still older books on the shelves which were scorched or water damaged by the fire. After the fire, the library was moved to the ground floor where it remained until 1972. For the last 34 years the library has been located in the upper north end of the court house.

 In 2000 the association designated the library as the “Lois C. Davidson Law Library” in recognition of the services of Lois Davidson, lawyer and librarian, who guided the library since 1967.

About the Library

The Lois C. Davidson Law Library serves approximately 120 lawyers in the Peterborough area, offering essential legal resources, research tools, and historical collections.

Circulation Policy:

  • Not open to the public.

  • Members may borrow textbooks for up to two weeks.

  • Visiting counsel may use the collection on-site.

  • The library participates in interlibrary loans with other county and district law libraries.

Resources & Collections

Online Resources (In-Library Access Only)

  • WESTLAW Canada Next (Law Source, Family Source, Estates & Trusts Source, Criminal Source)

  • Hein Online

  • Quicklaw Advance

  • LexisNexis Practical Guidance

  • O'Brien's Encyclopedia of Forms

  • Divorce Mate

  • VLex

Special Collections: 

The library has a number of books from the Library of Sir John Beverley Robinson, the first Chief Justice of Ontario. He was the brother of Peter Robinson who arranged for the Irish immigrant settlement of Peterborough and for whom the city is named. In 1899 Christopher Robinson, Q.C. gave the Peterborough Law Association a number of his father's reports and textbooks, including complete sets of early Ontario law reports and statutes of Upper Canada from 1792. The library holds complete sets of bound statutes from that date to the present for both Canada and Ontario. Complete sets of early English reports, including both the Revised Reports and the English Reports, are also available.

To access the library's list of holdings, visit the Law Society of Upper Canada's central database.

LiRN’s e-LiRN suite provides Ontario courthouse libraries with free access to top legal research tools, including Lexis+ Canada, Westlaw Canada, vLex, HeinOnline, and AccessCLE. These resources offer case law, legal texts, CPD materials, and AI research tools. Rangefindr.ca is also available remotely to Ontario lawyers. Courthouse library staff assist with research, and training is available. Access is open to all licensed Ontario legal professionals, regardless of association membership. Visit your local courthouse library or lirn.ca to learn more.

CANADA

(Law Source, Family Source, Estates & Trusts Source, Criminal Source)

  • Westlaw Practical Law (Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Employment, Real Estate modules)

  • Lexis +

  • LexisNexis Practical Guidance

  • LexisNexis Context and Pleadings, Motions & Facta

  • O'Brien's Encyclopedia of Forms

  • Divorce Mate

  • VLex (also available remotely - please contact the librarian for assistance)
    Rangefindr (also available remotely - please contact the librarian for assistance)

  • HeinOnline (also available remotely - please contact the librarian for assistance)

Facilities & Services

    • Collection: 2,000+ textbooks

    • Shared Spaces: Two robing rooms, a conference room, research stations, and a lounge

    • Workstations: 6 computer terminals available

    • $4.00 (cash only) on-site.

    • Tokens available at the County of Peterborough offices (opposite end of the building).

    • Self-serve coffee & cookies available

    • No food services on-site

    • $0.25 per page – ask the librarian for assistance.

    • Not wheelchair accessible

    • Handicapped washroom on the second floor, but accessible only by stairs.