The Linda Lear Center for Special Collections & Archives is located on the second floor of the Shain Library and is open to the public. While classes are in session, the Center hours are 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. During Summer hours, the Center is closes at 4:00 p.m. To ensure that your materials are ready for you when you arrive, we strongly urge you to contact us in advance of your visit. Our staff are knowledgable of the collections and are ready to help with research requests.

To learn more about the Lear Center for Special Collections and Arechives, please visit our FAQ page. 

The Reading Room and Palmer Room

The Lear Center reading room has three tables available for quiet or collaborative research and can accommodate up to fourteen researchers. The reading room also houses the Lear Center's artists' books collection and book collections on Rachel Carson and Beatrix Potter with space to exhibit items from the campus art collection. Four exhibition cases in the halls outside of the Lear Center and two cases in the reading room host rotating displays from the book, archival, and art collections.

The Palmer Room houses most of the private library of George S. and Elisha Palmer, which were donated in the 1920s and 1930s. It is equipped with a projector and screen and hosts class sessions making use of rare and archival materials.

Reading Room Policies

In order to protect the rare materials housed by the Lear Center, we ask patrons to observe the following rules:

  • All readers will be asked to fill out a registration form. Groups using materials only need to fill out a single form. New readers may be asked to show photo ID. College ID is accepted.
  • Only Lear Center staff may page materials. Lear Center stacks are not open for public browsing.
  • Food, beverages, and smoking are not permitted.
  • Only pencils may be used once materials have been paged.
  • For the comfort of other readers, we ask that you not use cell phones in the reading room.
  • Materials may not leave the reading room.
  • Book cradles will be provided for fragile materials. For the safety of fragile books we ask that they remain in the cradles.
  • Do not lean on, mark, or take notes upon material.
  • Leave material flat on the table, unless a cradle has been provided.
  • Please keep material in the order in which you found it. Do not rearrange material within folders.