Yale University Library News

Access to Manuscripts & Archives as renovation begins

December 7, 2016

Manuscripts and Archives (MSSA) will undergo a major renovation to its public spaces during 2017. While the renovation is in progress all public services will be temporarily relocated to the Franke Room in Sterling Memorial Library (SML). The Franke Room is immediately to your left as you enter the SML Nave through the main (High Street) entrance.

While MSSA relocates their public service operations to the Franke Room, the department will be completely closed to in-person researchers and remote reference requests from Monday, December 12, 2016, through Monday, January 16, 2017. The services affected by this brief closure include: reading room use and access to collection materials, in-person and remote reference work, records requests from Yale offices, ILL lending and return, and Special Collections Transit Hub services through MSSA.

Public services will reopen in the Franke Room at 8:30am on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, and will remain open in that location during our normal hours of operation until the completion of the renovation work, currently anticipated to be November, 2017. If you have questions relating to this closure please contact beinecke.library@yale.edu, or call 203-432-1735.

The renovation of Manuscripts and Archives will revitalize a beautiful space within Sterling Memorial Library, provide for better stewardship of materials through environmental control and security upgrades, and enhance the researcher experience with improved lighting, reduced noise, and improved consultation space. The project will also transform the former Gutenberg Chapel, originally the purpose-built home in Sterling Memorial Library for Yale’s Gutenberg Bible, into a secure classroom to meet increasing faculty demand for teaching with Manuscripts and Archives collections. The non-functional stone fireplace in the future classroom will be lifted to create a door into the Linonia & Brothers Reading Room (L&B)