Houghton Library

Using the Reading Room

Reading Room Rules

The reading rooms are open without fee to all adult scholars, regardless of academic affiliation.

  • The Houghton Reading Room is open 9am to 5pm Monday, Friday and Saturday; 9am to 7pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
  • Access to Harvard Theatre Collection material is provided through the Houghton Reading Room.

Please note that we stop paging materials one half hour before closing.

Registration: New Readers register at the Reading Room desk, providing two pieces of identification. At least one ID must include a photograph and one must show a current address.

By signing a registration form, readers agree to the Harvard College Library Patron Agreement, as well as the following regulations:

  • The Reading Room is exclusively for the use of Houghton material. A cloakroom and lockers are provided for personal property not essential for research. Personal books and papers must be kept to an absolute minimum, and some may require documentation.
  • The use of pens is not permitted in the Reading Room. Pencils are available at the Reading Room desk. The use of laptop computers is encouraged.
  • Cell phones must be turned off.
  • Houghton books and manuscripts must not be removed from the Reading Room. Readers fill out call-slips to request collection items and are responsible for all items charged out to them until they return them to the Reading Room desk. The number of items called for at one time may be limited at the discretion of the staff.
  • Harvard Depository (HD) items and Harry Elkins Widener (HEW) Collection items must be at least one business day in advance.  No more than six boxes per day may be requested from off-site.
  • Handling guidelines must be conscientiously followed. These are described on table tents and on green sheets of paper at the Reading Room desk.
  • All books and manuscripts must be returned promptly to the desk when the librarian announces that the Reading Room is closing.

Readers must show all books and papers to the Reading Room staff each time they leave the Reading Room.

Note: Registration and circulation records are kept in perpetuity. These records are kept confidential to the extent permitted by law. Names of readers using Emerson collections and New Directions collections are shared with the boards of trustees for those collections.

  • Requests for duplication are considered on a case-by-case basis.  With the approval of Reading Room staff, readers may take their own digital photographs for reference only as stipulated in the “Digital Camera Use Policy.”  All duplication for publication must be processed by the HCL Imaging Services Department.  Rush orders are accepted at the Imaging Services’ discretion and are subject to additional charges.  The Library will not duplicate any material that might be damaged by the duplication process, nor will it duplicate an entire collection.  The total number of copies it will provide to any one patron for a single project may be limited.  No materials may be duplicated that have had copying restrictions placed on them by donors, lenders, depositors or by the Library itself for preservation, processing, or other essential purposes.  The Library does not permit copies of its original materials to be deposited permanently in other repositories.  For additional information on duplication, please see the Photoduplication Request Form.  Duplication orders and inquiries must be made at least half an hour before closing.
  • Guidance on permission to publish Library materials in a print, electronic, or other public form is available at Reproductions and Permissions.

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Harvard College Library Patron Agreement

The Harvard libraries serve the University’s students, faculty, staff, and other authorized members of the scholarly community. In order to provide an environment conducive to research, to preserve the collections, and to ensure ongoing access to them, users are expected to respect the rules and regulations around use of library materials and property and to assist in the protection of library materials.

Every user of the library has a responsibility to:

  • safeguard the integrity of library resources
  • respect the restrictions placed on access to and the use of those resources
  • report to library officers the theft, destruction, or misuse of library resources by others
  • respect the rights of others to the quiet use of the library
  • respect the authority of the librarians and staff whose job it is to protect library resources

The following are prohibited:

  • illegal copying
  • the systematic exploitation for profit of library resources or materials
  • unauthorized removal of materials or property from the library
  • destruction, defacement or abuse of library materials or property
  • use of library privileges for reasons other than personal research

Students, staff, faculty members, researchers, visitors, and other users who fail to comply with library rules and regulations are subject to revocation of library privileges, disciplinary action, and legal prosecution. All library users are subject to the fines and penalties of the University as well as the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This agreement is consistent with standards of conduct required of Harvard students as published in Handbook for Students, Harvard College and The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Handbook.

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