Introduction
The Huntington welcomes qualified scholars. For more than half a century
it has been a research institution with major resources in rare books, manuscripts,
and reference works for the scholarly study of British and American history
and literature.
How to Apply
Application for reading privileges should be made to the Reader
Services Department. Full-time college and university faculty who hold the
degree of Ph.D.
in the field of their proposed research are registered upon presentation
of their faculty identification card (or letter from the chairman of their
academic department if their institution does not issue faculty identification
cards) and verification of their signature
such as a driver's license or passport.
Doctoral candidates from American or Canadian colleges or universities who have passed their Ph.D. qualifying examinations and have been advanced to candidacy are registered upon presentation of a letter of reference from their dissertation advisor which stipulates the nature of their research and their ability to perform independent scholarly research, their student identification card, and a driver's license or passport.
All other individuals who have a legitimate purpose for using the Library's collections must apply for reading privileges before coming to the Library. Applicants should contact the Reader Services Department to request an application form. The application, which includes the names and addresses of two scholars in good standing who will act as references, should be filed with the Reader Services Department. The Reader Services Department will contact all references. Applicants are requested to allow three weeks for the completion of the approval process.
One assistant per reader may be admitted to the Library if that individual is providing research assistance, special expertise in the execution of a project, or is a joint reader whose credentials would otherwise entitle them to be admitted as a reader. Assistants may be in the Library only while accompanied by the reader with whom they are working.
The Library grants reading privileges for specified subjects and periods and renews privileges under appropriate circumstances. Persons wishing to renew their library card should contact the Reader Services Department before coming to the Library. Holders of Huntington Library fellowships may register without formalities upon arrival.
Before coming to the Library, all new and returning readers are requested to notify the Reader Services Department of their expected date of arrival.
Hours of Operation
The Library appreciates learning in advance of readers' intended visits.
The Library is open to readers Monday through Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to
5:00 p.m.
It is closed on major holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence
Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and the afternoon of Christmas
Eve.
When new readers arrive, they should proceed directly to the reception area of the Research Library. Registrars are available between 8:30 and 11:30 in the morning and between 1:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon to complete new reader registration.
Housing Arrangements
The Library is glad to help readers who need housing. The Reader Services
Department maintains a file of rooms, hotels and motels, apartments, and
houses for rent. Readers are invited to write or call the department for
information about these. The Library is a sponsor of the Athenaeum, the
faculty club on the campus of the California Institute of Technology, approximately
one mile distant. The Athenaeum is the accommodation nearest the Library
and offers single and double rooms at reasonable rates; children under 16
not accepted. Breakfast and dinner are served on weekdays. Reservations
for the Athenaeum must be made through the Reader Services Department. Less
expensive housing at Caltech is sometimes available during summer months
for single persons. Within walking distance of Caltech are restaurants,
laundries, and extensive shopping facilities. At the Huntington, a cafeteria
in the gardens is open to staff and readers for lunch Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30
p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Transportation
A number of shuttle services operate vans directly from the airport to local
destinations.
Computer Services
The Library offers several computer services: printing readers' documents,
as well as mediated searching of RLIN, ESTC, OCLC with its keyword feature,
MELVYL, ORION, library catalogs and services on the Internet, Dialog, and OVID.
Interlibrary Loan Services
The Library offers readers an interlibrary loan service which may be used to
procure materials from other institutions or to verify whether materials are
held by libraries in the vicinity of their home institutions. Persons outside
the Huntington may contact the Photographic Services Department to request
digital, microfilm, or photocopies of Library materials in the public domain.
Photographic Services
The Library maintains a Photographic Reproduction Department which supplies
photographic, photocopy, or microfilm copies of Library materials which
have been approved for duplication by the appropriate curator and librarian.
Estimates are available upon request. Readers are not permitted to make
their own photographic copies. Separate permission to publish material in
the collections must be obtained in writing from the Director of the Library
or the Director of the Art Collections.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108
626-405-2100
Contact us