The Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law will formally dedicate the David C. Crago Rare Book and Special Collections Room on Friday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. The Taggart Law Library renovated its rare book and special collections room during summer 2012, transforming it into an elegant new space to house the law library’s rare books and special collections.

Stephen Vetri, interim dean of the Pettit College of Law said, “This is a fantastic addition to our law school, and it offers a comfortable, attractive space for students, faculty and visiting scholars to use the collections. We feel that naming the room after David Crago is a fitting tribute to someone who has provided excellent leadership and guidance when he served as dean of the law school. It is because of his dedication to ONU that these types of projects are possible.”

Crago, who now serves as ONU’s provost/vice president, joined the faculty of the College of Law in 1991 and became dean of the college in January 2001. Prior to joining the faculty, he spent more than 14 years in private practice with Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue and Murphrey, Young & Smith in Columbus, Ohio, where he specialized in business and commercial litigation.

He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools and the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) and a fellow in the Ohio State Bar Foundation.
       
         The new rare book room features a small reading room, with two walls lined with cherry and glass Amish-made cabinets to display books and other items. The reading room and storage area are fitted with a climate control system, which will regulate temperature and humidity to ensure the preservation and long-term sustainability of the Taggart’s Law Library’s small but growing collection.

A core collection of British and American early legal materials has been in the Law Library for many years. This collection is largely composed of “classic” legal works recognized as important in the history of Anglo-American law, including early editions of William Blackstone’s “Commentaries on the Laws of England” and Matthew Hale’s “History of the Common Law.” Also on display are Canon law and Roman law materials that were acquired by the law school in 2008 from a scholar in medieval church history. This collection includes a complete 1548-49 set of the “Corpus Juris Canonici,” a 1612 five-volume edition of the “Corpus Juris Civilis” and Cardinal Hostiensis’ “Summa Aurea,” published in 1573. These books are used by Ohio Northern University faculty for research and are available to visiting scholars from other institutions.