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The University of Chicago Library

Special Collections Research Center Circulation

MS 725

Research at the Center
Circulation

Special Collections materials do not circulate in the usual sense of the word, that is you cannot check them out and take them to your home or office. Instead, we circulate books, archives, and manuscripts for use in the Special Collections Reading Room on the first floor of Regenstein Library. You will need your Chicago Card, a University of Chicago Library Card, or a Day Pass to circulate items from Special Collections. You can obtain a University of Chicago Library Card or a Day Pass from the Privileges Office.

Manuscript and archival materials circulate one volume, folder, or box at a time. You may consult multiple printed volumes together as needed; however, depending on size and condition, we may need to limit the number of books circulated at one time or set you up to work in our Group Study room.

We normally hold materials for expected use for one week, but we are happy to extend the hold period upon request.

Schedule for Requesting Materials
Requesting Special Collection materials is easy. You simply need to fill out a page request at our front desk, and then we will retrieve the items for your use. We are able to retrieve most material in 15 to 20 minutes. 24 hours is needed to prepare some unprocessed archival collections for use. For further information, please Ask a Librarian.