Lloyd Robbins
Handling Policies for Robbins Collection Materials
Many Robbins Collection materials are rare or unique. Others are in fragile physical condition. By following the rules below, you are helping to preserve our materials for future researchers.
- Handle collection materials with care. Place unbound Collection materials on clean, flat surfaces and bound volumes in book supports. Never stack opened books, or lean on or place materials face down. When writing notes, be sure that your notepaper is not placed on top of Collection materials. Avoid touching the surfaces of rare book and manuscript pages, as ink can chip or rub off. Never write on or erase Collection materials.
- Keep hands clean and dry. Please wash your hands before handling Collection materials.
- Use book supports. All manuscripts, incunables, rare books, and other fragile materials should be placed on book supports while in use, not held in your hands. Never force open a book with a tight spine; instead, ask the Reading Room staff for a book support designed for books with tight spines. Book snakes and drapery cords may be used to lightly hold down the pages of bound volumes and are available from the reference desk.
- Use pencil only. Pencils are available at the reference desk. Ink is not allowed in the Reading Room.
- Use provided place markers only. Use acid-free paper strips, available at the reference desk, to mark your place. Never use staples, tape or other adhesives, Post-it notes, metal or plastic paper clips, thick marking strips, or other destructive objects.
- Reference book retrieval: You may retrieve your own reference materials from the shelves. (All other materials will be retrieved by Reading Room staff.) To remove books from the reference shelves, grasp the center of the spine and pull forward. This can be done by gently pushing adjacent books backward. Never remove a book by pulling down from the top of the spine.
- Oversized materials: Do not bend, fold, or press flat oversized materials. Please ask Reading Room staff for assistance with proper supports for oversized materials.
- Uncut (unopened) pages: If the quire folds of a volume have not yet been cut, please refer the volume to the Reference Librarian. Only Robbins Collection staff may open uncut pages.
- Damaged materials: Please notify Reading Room staff if you notice any damage to the physical condition of Collection materials.
