Widener Library Reading Room Privileges Card

Widener Library Reading Room privileges are available to the following eligible individuals, with proper identification. Cards are good for six visits in a year, unless otherwise noted. The card is valid for 12 months from the day of the initial visit:

  • Faculty from other schools
  • Ph.D. candidates from other schools
  • Master's students from other schools
  • Undergraduates from other schools
  • Harvard Extension School students—privileges card is good for the current semester
  • Harvard alumni/ae—unlimited visits
  • Librarians
  • Authors
  • Members of the public

Please note: Ph.D. and Master's candidates must present a letter from their adviser. Undergraduates and members of the public must present a letter from a Boston metro area library noting that it does not have the required research item. Authors must be published by a scholarly journal or press. Faculty, Ph.D. candidates, librarians, and authors are also eligible to apply for a HCL Special Borrower Card. Proper ID is required, for example, a student ID, faculty ID, or ALA card (or equivalent).

Application for a Widener Library Reading Room Privileges Card should be made in person at the Library Privileges Office, Monday through Friday between 9:00 am and 4:45 pm. Privileges must be requested in person in order to verify the identity of the user.

Researchers with reading room privileges will be allowed to request 10 items per day to be paged from the Widener Stacks or Harvard Depository (HD) and delivered for their use in the Phillips Reading Room. HD materials are delivered after 3 pm the next business day. Requests for materials from the stacks and HD must be made in person at the Phillips Reading Room Desk.

Researchers with reading room privileges are also able to use the reference collection in the Loker Reading Room, the current periodicals collection in the Periodicals Reading Room, or newspapers on microfilm in the Newspaper Microfilm Reading Room.

Reading room privileges do not include browsing access in the Widener stacks.