Announcement | Library Spaces Open for Fall 2020

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Your Brown University Library is thrilled to invite you back into the libraries for Fall 2020! 

John Hay is doing his part for a Healthy Brown.

The Library is working to meet critical student and faculty needs in the following ways:

  • Opening space for individual student work on a reservation basis
  • Providing enhanced digital access to materials for courses and scholarship
  • Circulating physical materials on a pickup basis
  • Supporting education and research through remote consultation with the Library’s experts

These services are described in more detail below.  We will continue to adapt as circumstances change, and provide updates to the campus community accordingly.

Library Town Hall

The Library University-Wide Town Hall meeting from September 17, 2020 was recorded and can be found on the Library’s YouTube channel and below:

Safety Is Everyone’s Priority

Our opening plan is based on the most up-to-date, reliable safety protocols to ensure a healthy environment for our patrons and staff. It is up to all of us to keep each other healthy and safe, and we feel confident that members of the Brown community will gladly share in this responsibility so that the Library can operate safely and continue providing the services that students and faculty most need. 

When you come to the Library, please

  • Wear a mask over your mouth and nose at all times
  • Maintain social distance
  • Sit in your reserved seat only
  • Sanitize your study space when you arrive and before you leave 

Please follow all other Healthy Brown steps to keep yourself and our community well. If you aren’t feeling well, please make use of our robust slate of digital resources.

We extend our deepest thanks and appreciation to everyone for following these steps!

What You Need to Know

This list highlights the most important information you need to know, with links to additional details.

What spaces will be open?

  • Select study spaces in the Rockefeller Library, Sciences Library, and John Hay Library are open on a reserved seating basis.
  • Orwig Music Library will be closed to users until further notice. Orwig materials will continue to be available by request.
  • The cafés in the Rock and SciLi will be closed until further notice. You may bring a personal water bottle. We ask that no food is brought into the libraries unless medically necessary.

When will the Library be open?

  • Library spaces opened to graduate and medical students on Wednesday, September 16. 
  • Undergraduates are welcome in Library spaces as of Monday, October 5.
  • Hours vary by library

How do I reserve a seat?

How will I get Library materials?

  • Requests for materials will continue to be made through Josiah, the online catalog, for general collections, and through Aeon for special collections materials.
  • All requested materials will be retrieved by staff for contactless pickup. More information.
  • For everyone’s safety, we ask that patrons do not enter the stacks.

How do I get help?

  • Library staff are standing by online to help students and faculty. Please use the Ask a Librarian service for questions and to get research support. You can also email rock@brown.edu (general) and hay@brown.edu (special collections) with questions.
  • Staff onsite will be primarily engaged in helping to keep our study spaces safe and healthy. They will not be providing in-person Library services.

How can I let you know what I think?

Library Study Spaces

Rockefeller Library

Hours:

  • Monday – Thursday 12:30 – 10 p.m.
  • Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 12:30 – 5 p.m.

Spaces with reserved seating available:

  • Sorensen Family Reading Room (Level 1: Rooms 130, 130 A and B, 132)
  • Finn Reading Room (Level 1: Room 134)
  • Sidney E. Frank Digital Studio (Level 1: Room 155)
  • Window Seating (Level 1: Room 141A)
  • Absolute Quiet Room and Foyer (Level A: Rooms A17, A07, A08)
  • Landing Lounge (Level A: Room AS3)
  • Table Seating adjacent to the Oversize Art Collection (Level A: Room A41)
  • Wernig Graduate Study Center (Level 2: Rooms 218 and 220) — Graduate and Medical students only
  • Corner Window Study Area (Level 2: Room 224)

Carrels:

Levels 3 and 4

Sciences Library

Hours:

  • Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
  • Friday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Saturday and Sunday 12 – 5 p.m.

Spaces with reserved seating available:

  • Friedman Study Center (Level A: Rooms A01, A01A and B, A04, A05, A08, A09, A18, A21, A24)
  • Mezzanine Level (Room 201)

Please note that upper Library floors will be closed to users until further notice.

John Hay Library

  • Study space: Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Special Collections: Wednesday and Thursday 1 – 4 p.m.
  • Closed Saturday and Sunday

Spaces with reserved seating available:

  • Willis Reading Room (first floor) – Opens September 16
  • Gildor Family Special Collections Reading Room (first floor) – Opens September 23 to graduate and medical students; opens October 7 to undergraduate students
    • By appointment through LibCal only
    • Reserve materials through Aeon one week (5 full business days) in advance of your appointment

Orwig Music Library

Orwig Music Library is currently closed. Orwig materials are available by request through Josiah.

Reservations

study space Seating

The web-based LibCal reservation system is available now for seating starting on September 16 for graduate and medical students and October 5 for undergraduates. 

Please make a reservation before going to a library. 

Watch the video tutorial on YouTube explaining how to use the LibCal reservation system.

Please make only one reservation per day to allow for equitable access to the limited number of de-densified seats. Seat reservations are for two-hour blocks of time with a half hour in between.

Carrel reservations will be made on a monthly basis, using alternate sides of each carrel on different days of the week to ensure safe distancing.

Once you place a reservation, you will receive a confirmation email. When you go to the library for your confirmed time, please bring a printout of the confirmation or be able to show it on an electronic device. Queue up outside, maintaining six feet of space with others in line. A security staff member will check your reservation confirmation before you will be allowed to enter the building. 

We ask that patrons bring only a personal water bottle into Library buildings.

graduate and medical student Carrels

Graduate and medical students can make a reservation for a carrel using the Library Carrel Request for Graduate Students form. Reservations are for one month at a time. Carrel use will be on an alternating schedule to ensure safe distancing between carrels.

Clean In / Clean Out

We ask that all patrons clean your designated area when you arrive and before you leave, using provided disinfectant wipes.

Faculty, visiting scholar, and staff use of library space

We ask that faculty and staff allow students only to reserve seating and carrels in the libraries. We will continue to provide digital delivery and distant circulation of materials for faculty and visiting scholars.

Faculty members with individual Faculty Studies will receive a Faculty Study Card via email. Please print the card, queue at the Rock, show the guard the card, and proceed to your study. You will need to bring the printout of this card with you each time you go to the Rock to access your study.

Graduate Teaching Assistant rooms

Graduate TA’s may also access a limited number of small study/collaboration rooms to conduct your online sections. Registration is required through 25Live. Please follow all safety protocols including Clean in / Clean out.

Classes in Library Spaces

At this time, the only classes scheduled to be held in Library spaces will be on floors of the Sciences Library that are managed by other campus units. Students will be asked to identify themselves as members of the class upon entry to the building.

Library Materials and Services Requesting Library Materials

Requests for materials will continue to be made through Josiah, the online catalog, for general collections, and through Aeon for special collections materials.

Contactless Pickup and Digital Delivery

All requested materials will be retrieved by staff for contactless pickup. For everyone’s safety, we ask that patrons do not enter the stacks. If materials are available digitally, they will be delivered to you via email.

Remote Assistance

While staff will not be available for in-person library assistance, Library experts are standing by online to help students and faculty. Staff onsite will be primarily engaged in helping to keep our study spaces safe and healthy. Please use the Ask a Librarian service for questions and to get research support. You can also email rock@brown.edu (general) and hay@brown.edu (special collections) with questions. This news page has detailed information about Library services during the pandemic.

Library Video Tutorials

There are a number of videos on the Library’s YouTube channel that provide information about how to use the Library, conduct various aspects of research, and more.

This Is Your Library

You belong here. While these are extraordinary times, we know the Brown community is also extraordinary. We will rise to the challenges of this pandemic, work together, support each other, and succeed with each other. We are grateful to the many students and faculty who have let us know how important the Library is to your academic work and experience at Brown. We are proud of our staff members who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to support Brown’s academic mission and who will be both onsite and at home, ready to help you and collaborate with you on your research journey — this semester, in 2021, and beyond. We are here for you. This is your Library.