Selling a Court, Police, Council or University Library

Most of what's on this site is written for chambers and firms, because that's most of our enquiries. But institutional libraries are a real and growing source of what we buy, for reasons specific to each type of organisation.

Courts and tribunals

If you are a judge retiring personally, rather than managing a court's wider closure, our retirement guide for judges covers that specifically.

The scale of this is larger than most people realise. Official figures show that between 2010 and 2018, 162 of England and Wales's 323 magistrates' courts closed, along with 90 of 240 county courts, 28 of 83 tribunal buildings, and 8 of 92 Crown Court buildings. HM Courts & Tribunals Service has closed 127 sites since 2015 alone, with further closures under review.

Court buildings, particularly older ones, have historically held reference libraries for judges, legal advisers, and court staff. When a building closes or a service consolidates onto a single site, that collection needs to go somewhere — and it's rarely practical for HMCTS or a local justice area to store or transport it themselves.

If you're involved in managing a court closure, consolidation, or estate reduction and there's a library to deal with, we buy complete collections and handle collection ourselves, on whatever timeline the closure requires.

Why late summer is the easiest time to do this →

Police forces

Force legal departments, professional standards teams, and force solicitors work with genuine practitioner material — case law, evidence and disclosure texts, procedural references — not just the operational manuals most people associate with policing. We've bought from police forces before, and the same principle applies as anywhere else: if it's a recognised English law title, we're interested regardless of which institution held it.

If a station is closing, a legal department is downsizing, or a library is simply being reviewed as part of an estate change, we collect complete collections ourselves and can work to whatever timeline the change requires.

University law libraries

Academic law libraries face the same pressure as private practice: Westlaw and Lexis+ have made large parts of a print collection redundant, particularly duplicate copies bought for student use rather than research value. Where a law school is reviewing its physical holdings — a stock review, a building move, or simply reclaiming shelf space — surplus practitioner sets and law reports are exactly what we buy.

This is separate from what we've written for students selling individual textbooks, which is a different market entirely. A university clearing duplicate or superseded reference sets is a library disposal decision, not a personal sale, and we treat it accordingly — a written valuation for internal approval, and collection to fit around term-time access.

Local authority legal teams

Council legal departments hold a narrower slice of what we buy — typically general practitioner texts and law reports rather than local-government-specific material — but where a department is downsizing, merging with a neighbouring authority, or moving offices, the same principle applies. If it's a recognised English law title, we're interested regardless of who owns it.

Central government departments and agencies

Departmental legal teams, arm's-length bodies, and agencies with an in-house legal function all hold the same practitioner texts and law reports as any firm — and they face the same problem when an office is consolidated, a team relocates, or a function moves online. We collect from central government on the same terms as anywhere else: free valuation, free collection, and a written valuation for internal sign-off where your process needs one.

Where a department would rather the proceeds didn't return to the department, the charity donation route described below is usually the simplest answer — and it's one we've arranged before rather than a theoretical offer.

How this works for an institution

The process is the same as for a chambers or firm, with two adjustments we're used to making:

• Paperwork. Public sector disposal often needs a written valuation for internal sign-off, or a formal invoice rather than a bank transfer on the day. Tell us what your process requires and we'll work to it.
• Timing. Closures and moves run to fixed dates that aren't always flexible. We'll work around a closure date rather than asking you to work around ours.
• Payment. Some public bodies would rather the proceeds didn't come back to the department at all. Where that's the case, we can pay the value as a donation to a charity of your choosing instead — we've done this before, and it's a straightforward arrangement to set up.

Beyond that, the same terms apply as anywhere else on this site: free valuation, free collection, and payment by cash on collection, cheque, or bank transfer.