Many of the proprietors of the library were chief justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, including Theophilus Parsons, Lemuel Shaw, Horace Gray, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The library was also caught up in the debates between the Federalists, who wanted to see the common law (based on English law) received into the newly formed United States, and the Jeffersonians, who preferred to have a civil law-based system similar to the Napoleonic Code. The Federalists, who were prominent in Boston and integral to the library's founding, began importing English law books for local lawyers to use.
This led to involvement from several high-ranking justices on the Supreme Judicial Court, including Theophilus Parsons, Lemuel Shaw, Horace Gray, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The library became a focal point of the disagreements between Federalists and Jeffersonians over whether to adopt English common law versus a civil law system inspired by the Napoleonic Code. As a result, Federalists, who were influential in Boston and instrumental in establishing the library, began importing English law texts for local attorneys.