Henry Liu, Contributing Photographer

After more than 20 years, the Yale Law School library’s freshwater fish tank is about to be removed.

Law Librarian Femi Cadmus, who manages the library, announced the plans to remove the tank in an email to library staff last month, citing “immediate budget cuts” starting July 1. 

“After careful deliberation with Law School Administration, the operations of the Fish Tank will cease at the end of June 2025,” Cadmus wrote in the May 23 email obtained by the News. She noted that the Law School is also undergoing other “significant changes and transitions.”

Cadmus did not respond to the News’ request for comment about the tank’s removal, the budget cuts or the broader changes.

A service manager at House of Fins, the company contracted by the Law School to maintain the fish tank, told the News that the fish tank was scheduled to be removed on Tuesday.

Saman Haddad LAW ’26, the president of Yale’s Graduate and Professional Student Senate, said the Law School student body had not been notified of the planned change as of Sunday.

The 180 gallon aquarium, home to colorful freshwater species like discus and clown loach, is tucked away underground on the first level of the Lillian Goldman Law Library in an area known as the Upper East Side, or UES. Encased in wood, the tank has been a staple of the library since its installation over two decades ago.

It was added by Blair Kauffman, the law librarian at the time, following a major five-year renovation of the law school ending in 2001, according to an article on the library’s website.

For Cleon Beckford LAW ’26, as for other law students who pored over textbooks in the surrounding study desks, the aquarium was more than ornamental.

“My 1L year, I spent a lot of time studying right next to that tank,” Beckford said. “Just being able to look up and see the fish, or even hear the gentle sound of the water, brought a lot of peace and comfort. Law school isn’t the most stress-free environment. Small things like that really help.”

Beckford added that while not everyone studies in the UES due to its lack of natural light, the aquarium has become something of a landmark, often highlighted during official admissions tours and visits by students’ families.

Shana Jackson, the administrative assistant to the law librarian, has tended to the fish since the aquarium’s installation nearly 25 years ago.

In a 2022 article on the law library website, Jackson said that “witnessing the enjoyment others experience when viewing the tank” was satisfying.

“I love mixing different types of fish that make up our communal tank,” she is quoted as saying, adding that “it is the epitome of a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) environment.”

Jackson declined to comment for this article.

In the May 23 email, Cadmus thanked Jackson and five other people for their dedication in allowing the library to provide such a “distinctive service” for its patrons.

“It was a hidden treasure,” Beckford said. “One of those things you don’t expect in a law library, but once you find it, you can never really forget it.”

The Lillian Goldman Law Library contains more than a million print volumes, according to the school.

Baala Shakya contributed reporting.