Smith College Special Collections has developed a set of community agreements that seek to make the ways in which we are all interdependent on and accountable to each other more visible. We expect that researchers will join us in upholding these community agreements just as Special Collections staff will be accountable to researchers and to each other in this ongoing and evolving work. Please read through our community agreements in advance of your visit.

We strongly encourage all visiting researchers to make an appointment to view materials 24 hours in advance.

Book An Appointment

• Appointments may be made up to 2 hours prior to your visit.
• Appointments are for one person. If you are coming with additional researchers, they will each need to book an appointment
• You are not required to arrive at the start of your appointment nor stay until the end of your appointment.
• The reading room closes daily from 12-1 p.m. for lunch and at 4:45 p.m. for the day
• You may cancel your appointment yourself via the link in your confirmation email.

You will sign in on an iPad once you arrive in the reading room welcome area, Neilson Library, 3rd floor.

Special Collections is committed to ensuring equal access for all visitors. See Reading Room Accessibility for more information.

Only Service Animals are permitted in Special Collections or the wider library. No pets are allowed inside any library buildings in accordance with the Campus Pet Policy.

The Special Collections Reading Room is closed on college holidays, as well as other campus-wide events. Please check the Libraries’ Hours prior to visiting.

In the reading room, we welcome:

• Silenced phones 
  • Please do not make or take phone calls in the reading room.
  • The reading room is not a silent space and a conversational level of speech is welcome. If you need a deeper quiet, we have disposable earplugs for your use.
• Notebooks
• Pencils
• Laptops and tablets
• Cameras (for non-flash photography)

We ask that you leave the following items in our free lockers outside the reading room:

• All food and drink
• Bags or cases of any kind
• Pens
• Sticky notes
• Outerwear
• Umbrellas

• All materials that can be used by researchers are held on-site, unless otherwise noted in the finding aid.
• Materials are requested via call slips in the reading room. Do not submit a materials list in advance of your visit. 
• You may request up to 2 items at a time.
• We pull materials from 10 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. and from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Materials requested after 11:45 a.m. will be pulled when we reopen at 1 p.m.
• The number of researchers in the reading room and the location of the materials in our five on-site storage areas impacts when you will receive your materials once you have completed your call slips. Paging materials can take up to 15 minutes.
• When finished with your materials, please leave them at your seat and let the staff member know if you are leaving or requesting more material.
• We start collecting materials 15 minutes prior to closing.

The reading room houses a collection of reference materials related to all three repositories. These materials do not require paging and can be accessed up to closing.

Do:

• Use one folder at a time, marking the location with the provided placeholder 
• Have clean, bare hands
• Use gloves only to handle photographs or metallic objects
• Handle materials gently
• Keep materials flat and centered on the table
• Take notes with a pencil and paper, your computer, your tablet, or your phone
• Take pictures of the materials with your device (or borrow a device from us!)
• Use foam wedges and string weights when examining bound material
• Ask a staff member for assistance if you are not certain how to best handle an item

Don’t:

• Lean on the material
• Change the order that materials are arranged in a folder
• Fold, crumple, or write on the materials
• Force bound material to lay flat on a table
• Use a pen or marker for taking notes

Materials in plastic sleeves should remain in plastic sleeves. Please do not open sleeves or remove items from them. 
 

We have equipment in our reading room for researcher use, including:

• iPads and laptops
• Hovercams
• A light box and slide viewer
• Tablet and phone stands
• Chargers and cables
• Magnifying glasses
• Tape measures
• Sensory tools

Personal Photography in the Reading Room

Smith College Special Collections encourages the use of personal photography in the Reading Room under the following conditions:

1. Non-flash photography of materials is allowed during your research. Special Collections has equipment for researchers on a first come basis, or you may use your own device.
2. Fragile bound materials must be supported in a book cradle, with no pressure applied to bindings.
3. Unbound materials can only be photographed lying flat on a research table; no copy-stands and unstapling.
4. Use of personal scanners is not permitted.
5. Images may not be published in any way without written permission of the copyright holder. Images may not be changed, modified, or embellished without written permission of the copyright owner.

Visitors are welcome to take pictures of the reading room space so long as they do not photograph any researchers in the room. If you are interested in filming the reading room as part of your project, please complete the Smith College Filming & Photography Inquiry Form. 

Digitization Services

Researchers can request publication-quality scanning from Special Collections. Information about our practices and guidelines, including fees, can be found on Digitization Services.

Special Collections Reading Room
Neilson Library 307
7 Neilson Drive
Northampton, MA 01063

Directions from Neilson Library's Main Entrance: Enter the main front entrance of Neilson Library, located on the east side of the building that faces Seelye lawn. Move into the first floor Central Hall and then turn right to locate the central elevator. Take this elevator to the third floor. Coming out of the elevator, turn right, then left and follow the signs to the Special Collections reading room. Download a floor-by-floor guide to Neilson Library.

Please use our visitor parking spaces around campus and in the parking garage, for seek City of Northampton parking options.

• Find parking on the campus map: You may request a campus parking pass 48 hours (Monday through Friday) in advance of your visit from Facilities Management Customer Service. Please complete a request form and the pass will be emailed to you directly for you to print out.
• City of Northampton Parking Lots & Permits: There is metered parking available on Green Street. The meters accept quarters ($.75/per hour) or you can download the Northampton Parkmobile parking app and pay with a credit card.

PVTA: The closest PVTA stop is located in front of John M. Greene Hall, which is 600 feet from Neilson Library. This stop serves routes 39, 39E, R42, and B43.

Amtrak: The Northampton train station is less than a mile from Neilson library (approximately a 15 minute walk or 5 minute cab ride). Please note: we have limited, unsecured storage for luggage.

Peter Pan and Greyhound: The bus terminals are in separate locations but are each about ½ mile from Neilson Library.

The college does not provide on-campus accommodation for visitors. Please review places to stay in Northampton to locate accommodations for your trip.