Why is the Hay closed evenings and weekends?
Staffing levels and security considerations are the main factors in limiting our hours. We do revisit this issue periodically and we do extend our hours during reading and exam period. If you would like to voice an opinion or make a suggestion on this issue, please email hay@brown .edu • Why are things that are neither rare nor old housed at the Hay where they cannot circulate? In addition to housing a high proportion of rare and unique materials, the Hay also contains many thematic special collections whose individual parts may not be ‘valuable’ or ‘rare’, but, as an aggregate, constitute a historically significant body of material. Keeping these materials together as a special collection enhances their research value. For example, since many of the contemporary texts acquired for the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays are readily available in the marketplace it may seem puzzling that their circulation should be restricted. The collecting policy of the Harris Collection, s
