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Institutional and Private LibrariesAllen County Law Library%u2014%u2014Fort Wayne, IndianaEstablished in 1902 and closed in 2018.First opened in 1902, the Allen County Law Library was quite a facility. So much so, that Leander J. Monks (Editor-in-Chief of the 1916 edition of Courts and Lawyers of Indiana) said it was %u201cthe best (law) library in the state, outside of Indianapolis.%u201dThe library was a personal and professional gathering spot for generations of local attorneys. In the beginning, it filled much of the third and fourth floors of the Allen County Courthouse. However, some books were only accessible by spiral staircases that would ultimately be at odds with the Americans with Disabilities Act.Eventually, the library fell prey to the digital age. Its decline was gradual, dwindling to about 6,600 books in 1998, then to just a few hundred in the second decade of the 21st century%u2014all as a result of the Internet%u2019s ability to search databases for precedents and case law. In the past, the library sold legal forms, which could now be downloaded, copied, and printed electronically. The library once also had mail boxes for attorneys and the courts to communicate with each other, but those became obsolete with the arrival of email. Slowly, some of its space was claimed by courtrooms, and the library finally closed for good in 2018, after a 116-year history.Near the end, only 100 of the county%u2019s 600 attorneys paid the annual $275 fee to access to the library%u2019s research books, databases%u2014and the expertise of longtime Director Cynthia Ripley. At the time of closing, Ripley said, %u201cRevenue has always been an issue,%u201d particularly after the county government cut its financial support three years earlier. Lawyers now use on-line search services that can cost up to $400 a month. Ripley also pointed out the human cost%u2014the fact that attorneys will no longer have a place to gather and talk. %u201cIt wasn%u2019t unusual to see half a dozen in here at a time,%u201d she said.Sadly, many of the last books that remained on the shelves were so obsolete they were sold for a pittance or thrown away, although those with historical value were donated to other libraries or museums. The tables, shelves, and fixtures were also sold off.