Outgoing Exhibit Loans

Loan Policy and Procedures

As part of its effort to support scholarship and learning, the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center lends items from its collections for temporary exhibition. Materials are loaned to institutions that meet the conditions stated in the University of Chicago Library's Loan Agreement form and/or the institution's own outgoing loan agreement. Items are not loaned to individuals.

Loan requests will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: physical condition of the item(s); facilities and program of the borrowing institution, including appropriate qualifications of staff; anticipated need of the item(s) for University of Chicago research, teaching and exhibition purposes; availability of staff to process the loan request.

The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center does not assess a loan fee or charge for staff time associated with lending materials.  Because loans must be balanced with other priorities, we are able to consider requests only for a limited number of items.

An authorized representative of the prospective borrowing institution must submit a letter of request six months in advance of the anticipated shipping date. A facilities report should accompany the request letter.

The request letter should include the following information:

  • Title and dates of the exhibition
  • Inclusive dates of proposed loan
  • Name(s) and affiliation of exhibition curator(s)
  • Detailed information about the item(s) to be borrowed: full citation and call number for printed materials; collection name, box and folder number for archival and manuscript materials
  • Indication of plans for a published catalog and/or Web version of the exhibition; indication of any photography or scanning needs
  • Statement of willingness to conform to the conditions of loan set by the lender

Send exhibition loan requests to:
Patti Gibbons
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637

Requests can also be sent via email: pgibbons@uchicago.edu


For further information contact specialcollections@lib.uchicago.edu or pgibbons@uchicago.edu