Tag Archives: reading room

We’re Open Again!

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Wall outside a glass room with text Galvin Rare Book Room, spiderweb design leading to door into glass room with tables and chairs visible.

The Fall 2025 academic year at the University of Richmond begins today, and the staff of Boatwright Memorial Library are excited about the opening of the newly renovated Ground Floor spaces. Check out the updated menu at the expanded 8:15 cafe, a lively new mural exploring the campus and Richmond vicinity (including Triceragoose), and a plethora of new exhibit cases full of materials from the Book Arts, Archives, and Rare Book collections.

After two years of limited access, we are pleased to announce the reopening of our archives reading room following a major renovation project across the entire floor of the library. We are excited to share a refreshed and thoughtfully designed space that better serves researchers, students, and community members alike.

The updated reading room offers improved lighting, expanded seating, and research support. Behind the scenes, we’ve strengthened preservation and security measures to ensure our rare books, archives, and book arts collections remain safeguarded for generations to come. The new spaces enhance visibility and ensure improved access to the collections.

Most importantly, the space is once again ready for exploration and discovery. Whether you are beginning a new project, revisiting familiar sources, or simply curious about the treasures in our care, we look forward to welcoming you back.

Our doors are open—we invite you to come see the new reading room and join us in celebrating this new chapter. Plan a visit during our open hours or feel free to make an appointment by emailing archives@richmond.edu. Open hours for Fall 2025 begin September 2 and run through December 16.

Fall 2025 Reading Room Open Hours

  • Sunday 12-4 
  • Monday 12-4 
  • Tuesday 2-6 
  • Wednesday 2-6 

Fall 2022 Open Hours

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After several years of closure due to construction and the ongoing pandemic, we are finally able to reopen the newly renovated Rare Book Reading Room for regular open hours! The newly renovated space is part of the newly renovated floor B1 of Boatwright Memorial Library in the heart of the University of Richmond campus. The fall 2022 semester schedule for open hours is as follows:

Tuesdays: 12pm-2pm
Wednesdays: 12pm-3pm
Thursdays: 9am-12pm
Fridays: 11am-2pm

We can of course accommodate researchers by appointment outside of these hours, and we encourage all researchers to reach out before arriving so we can have material pulled and ready for your research. You can reach out directly by emailing us at archives@richmond.edu. Please also bear in mind that these hours are subject to change, especially in regards to University or federal holidays and staff availability.

When planning a research visit, you can find our rare books, including the Book Arts collection, in the library catalog and review our open archival collections in our online collection inventories. For questions on our holdings or assistance in locating material, please email us at archives@richmond.edu.

New Open Hours – Fall 2019

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Door to Galvin Rare Book Reading RoomFall semester 2019 brings some new things to Rare Book & Special Collections.  We are trying out different open hours for research this fall as well as having new ways to schedule materials and appointments and to schedule instruction sessions.

When classes are in session, our Fall 2019 open hours are:

Sundays & Mondays: 2-6pm

Tuesdays & Wednesdays: 11am – 3pm

If you would like to set an appointment outside of those hours or have specific materials you would like us to have ready for your visit, please submit your request through this form.  If you would like to schedule an instruction session or class visit, please submit the request via this form.  Finally, if you are interested in learning more about our Books Arts program or scheduling a consultation or instruction session with our Book Arts Studio director, Jen Thomas, check out the Book Arts page or send a request through this form.

We look forward to working with you this fall!

New Spaces!

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Construction is finished, and we are so pleased with our brand new spaces.  During the past six months, our space on Level B1 of Boatwright Memorial Library has slowly been taking shape.  We’ve watched with eager anticipation as the new reading room and the new classroom were created.

new reading room

New reading room

Our new reading room space is designed for research use.  The glassed-in room showcases the beautiful hardwood floor and the new custom shelving.  With the new room come new procedures, too, as now all materials will be brought to the researcher.  Although we will miss having researchers in the actual rare book room, the new spaces allow for much better environmental controls for the collection.

The new classroom is equally beautiful.  It has flexible table designs to accommodate seminar-style or lecture-style classes or to allow for exploring large oversized documents like Japanese scrolls.  The large monitor provides much-needed internet access as well as display options, increasing the possibilities for classroom instruction in the space.  The first few classes we’ve held there this semester have given the space rave reviews, and we look forward to hosting many more in the years ahead.

new classroom

The new classroom space

We hope you’ll come visit our new spaces in person!  For Spring Semester 2017, the reading room is open Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m. or by appointment.