Consortium Class Visits

to View Medieval and Early Modern Materials

Professors at Consortium schools are encouraged to schedule class visits to the Newberry through the Center for Renaissance Studies. Classes may explore rare medieval and Renaissance materials from the Newberry collection—books, manuscripts, maps, or artifacts—that their professors have requested in advance. While a Newberry staff member will be on hand to supervise the session, professors are responsible for selecting and presenting the requested materials to their students.

To schedule a class visit, contact the Center for Renaissance Studies’ assistant director, who will help you draw up a list of materials to be viewed and reserve the special collections seminar room for your visit. Note: If you wish to schedule a visit dealing with non-medieval or -early modern materials, contact Jill Gage at gagej@newberry.org.

Policies

• Visits must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance, preferably longer.
• Only thirteen students (plus one professor) may view special collections materials at once. If the number of students attending exceeds thirteen, the session must be split into two separate viewings.
• A maximum of ten books, manuscripts, maps, or other materials may be requested for a single session.
• The list of materials, with call numbers and titles, must be turned in to the Center for Renaissance Studies at least one week before your visit.
• The session should be limited to about an hour of viewing time.
• On any given day humidity levels in special collections may preclude bringing out materials written on parchment. This happens rarely, but it can occur and is entirely unpredictable.

Hours

Presentations may be scheduled during normal special collections service hours, Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m..

Conservation

All special collections reading room rules apply to presentations. The class will be instructed on proper handling of materials. No food or beverages are permitted in the room during a presentation. Only pencils may be used to take notes.

The conditions of all items will be examined before a presentation, and some items may not be available for conservation reasons. If this happens, the instructor will be notified which item is unavailable. When possible, a comparable item will be suggested for substitution.

Conduct

See the rules of conduct for the reading rooms here.