S.F. Law Library needs a temporary space For small law firms, advocacy groups, public-interest lawyers, government agencies and citizens representing themselves, law libraries are vital, advocates say. The San Francisco Law Library offers free access to expensive online legal resources such as LexisNexis and Westlaw, along with more than 250,000 law books and free assistance from eight reference librarians. [...] the library's board says it is contemplating legal action, raising the specter of some of San Francisco's top legal eagles suing the city for reneging on a basic obligation. Legal letterMeanwhile, about 700 supporters from the local legal community wrote to Mayor Ed Lee and the Board of Supervisors in May urging them to act immediately to find the library a new home (tinyurl.com/b8z9vs4). While the ornate building, which houses the Herbst Theatre downstairs, is architecturally striking, the 14,300-square-foot space is far too small for the library, which had to put about two-thirds of its collection into storage and reduce seating and public areas. Updike said the city has identified four possible locations for the library within walking distance of the Civic Center courthouse - two city-owned and two privately owned. While the city is mandated to provide the space, the library covers its operating budget out of $1.4 million a year in civil case filing fees. San Francisco resident Steve Joyner, a computer consultant, said he's spent over 50 hours in the law library over the past year working on his defense after a debt collector got a default judgment entered against him over an old credit-card bill before he was aware of the suit.