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Policies

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Special Collections User Policies

Our goal to provide you with the best possible service includes the preservation and security of the collections. Therefore we require that patrons adhere to the following policies:

I. Main Reading Room and S. L. A. Marshall Military History Room Policies:

• The Main Reading Room is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The department is closed Sundays, on all University of Texas at El Paso-observed holidays, and at other times when the library is closed. Reference assistance is available during open hours.
• The Marshall Military History Room is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. Patrons may request books for which they have a call number during times when the Marshall Room is closed but the department is open.
• Patrons are permitted to bring only a pencil and a few sheets of note paper into the Special Collections Reading Rooms. Bound pads with no loose pages are allowed but are subject to search at exiting. All other papers, binders, books, fanny packs, purses, briefcases, coats, etc., must be left in secured lockers.
• Books needed for research from outside of the department will be allowed into the reading rooms on a limited basis and must be checked in and out of the area.
• Patrons are permitted to take lap-top computers into the reading rooms but cases must be left outside the room. Tape recorders may be used for note taking.
• No ink pens are allowed inside the reading rooms. Only pencil may be used for note taking.
• No radios, Walkmans, cellular telephones, hand-held copiers or cameras will be allowed inside the reading rooms.
• The reading rooms are designed as research areas for patrons using Special Collections material and ARE NOT GENERAL STUDY AREAS FOR INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS. Space for studying is available throughout other areas of the library.

II. Requesting and Using Materials:

• Patrons may browse and pull materials in the reading rooms for themselves during open hours. All other material must be requested through the reception desk by filling out an Application to Use Materials form.
• Check with the reading room reference staff on the availability and use of finding aids and special indexes to assist in locating materials you need.
• Please provide a photo ID with the Application to Use Materials form when requesting material. Allow adequate time for retrieval and remember material will not be pulled during the last 20 minutes before closing.
• Please wait in the Main Reading Room while waiting for requested materials. When finished with a rare book, return the book to the reception desk to have your ID returned. When using other material leave it on the table and notify staff to receive your ID. DO NOT LEAVE the Reading Room with any materials. If you need to leave the Reading Room but wish to have the material held for you, check with desk staff to have then properly tagged. All untagged materials will be reshelved.
• Please keep manuscript and photo archive materials in order and in their proper folders. If you discover something you think is out of order or does not belong in a folder, notify the REFERENCE LIBRARIAN, but please let the librarian make the determination to remove the materials or to change the order.

III. Copying Policy and Procedure:

• Copying of all Special Collections materials must first be approved by the staff.
• Copying facilities and services are available. Any Reading Room or Marshall Room book in good condition may be copied by the patron, one page at a time only, on a special rare book copier which reduces damage to the book. Copying of ALL OTHER MATERIALS is done by staff after a request form is filled out at the reception desk.
• Copies cannot be taken back into the reading rooms and must be left at the reception desk. If copies are needed for research purposes, they must first be stamped at the desk.
• Self-service copies are 5 cents per page. Copies made by staff are 10 cents per page (standard and legal size). Large photocopy orders must be paid in advance and are processed on a staff-available basis.
• Books that are damaged or in poor condition and all manuscript and photographic materials must be copied by the staff. Please ask staff how to properly mark items for photocopying or photographic duplication. To have photocopies made, please obtain a Duplication Request form from the desk staff, fill it out, and then return the form and materials to the desk. For photographic duplication, return the form to the REFERENCE LIBRARIAN. Please allow for processing time, which varies depending on the service requested.
• The C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department reserves the right to deny the duplication of any item deemed to be in unfit condition.

IV. Handling of Materials:

• Rare books and manuscript materials must be handled only with clean, dry hands. For particularly vulnerable materials such as historical photographs, staff will provide cotton gloves.
• Do not lean on or put undo pressure on books or manuscript material. Do not put pages of note paper on top of original material to take notes.