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Library Hours
Monday, Thursday, and Friday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday: 9 a.m.–7 p.m.
Closed weekends, major holidays, and other planned closures.
The Special Collections (Ahmanson) Reading Room is reserved for viewing rare materials, including rare books, manuscript collections, and visual materials.
Wi-Fi Network Information
To ensure the long-term preservation of our rare collections, the library observes the following guidelines:
Handling Guidelines
Checkout Limit
Researchers may have at their desk:
For more details on our Handling Guidelines, please see our Terms and Conditions page.
How to Use a Book Cradle
The General Collections (Rothenberg) Reading Room is a quiet study space reserved for research with general collections materials, including published books, journals, magazines, and more.
Seating is first-come, first-served. You may begin working at any open seat.
Wi-Fi Network Information
General collections materials are non-circulating and must remain within the library.
Most general collections materials are self-serve. An item's shelf location within the library is noted in its library catalog record with an ON SHELF status. Refer to the Library Map for shelf locations.
Closed Stacks
The East, South, North Wing Basements, and Botanical Library are currently closed. Materials are noted in the library catalog as PLACE REQUEST.
Checkout Limits
Readers and Short-term fellows may have 20 items checked out at a time, including 10 holds.
Need assistance navigating the stacks?
Sign up for a Library Tour! Tours are designed to help with wayfinding of our reading rooms, open stacks, and other facilities.
You can request materials prior to your visit or upon arriving at the library. Requests are retrieved according to the schedule below:
Retrieval Schedule
Materials are typically delivered to the reading room within the hour. Requests for special collections materials can be tracked online in Aeon. Restricted materials are subject to extended delivery time.