Finding and using Special Collections
Location
The Special Collections Department is no longer in the Main Library, but is now located on the North Haugh, at the north end of St Andrews, behind Agnes Blackadder Hall and Chemistry. We are no. 33a on the Map of University (PDF, 223 KB), grid reference E3. Click here for Postcard directions (PDF, 585 KB).
Parking is available at Agnes Blackadder Hall (formerly New Hall).
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday
9.30-5.30 during term time
9.30-4.30 during vacations
We regret that due to lack of staff we will not be able to open to readers on Saturdays this semester. Additional Reading Room closures during the week will be managed through our booking system, at times which will be selected to inconvenience the minimum number of readers. Reading Room hours will return to normal when staffing levels permit.
How to use the Department
There is a supervised Reading Room that is open for use by visiting scholars and the general public as well as staff and students of the University. However reader space is limited to only 6 seats, and it is therefore important to note that access to the Reading Room will be strictly by appointment only.
To make an appointment, please either email speccoll@st-andrews.ac.uk or telephone (01334) 462339. (The telephone may not always be answered immediately, but the voicemail messages will be checked and responded to regularly.) You should provide us with your preferred date and as much detail as you can of what you wish to consult. Staff will discuss with you an appropriate time and duration of visit. Directions to the new facility will be supplied when bookings are made.
All of the collections have been re-located, and some have had to be outstored due to shortage of space in the temporary premises. Fetch times may therefore be more extended than previously, our ability to fetch on demand will be very limited, a small amount of material may be unavailable or may take up to 24 hours to retrieve, and there may also have to be limits on how much material can be consulted at any one time.
Facilities include power points for personal computers, microfilm and microfiche reader and printer, scanning and photographic services.
To register as a reader:
You do not need to be a registered reader of the University Library. You will be asked to fill in a small registration form, and to provide identification, on your first visit to the department. Thereafter, the books or manuscripts that you request will be brought to you, and you must abide by the regulations for the use of the Reading Room.
Registration as a user of Special Collections does not give you borrowing rights in the Main Library, but you are welcome to use its reference facilities.
Access to any book or manuscript is at the discretion of the staff, but use of individual items would normally only be refused for reasons such as physical fragility, or their absence due to loan or exhibition.
Enquiries:
Postal and e-mail enquiries may be made to the Department, although we are limited in the extent to which research can be carried out on behalf of enquirers. There are no research or access charges.
Readers requiring research assistance, or those who wish to view items from the Photographic Collections, are advised to make prior appointments.
If you want to come to St Andrews to research your family history, the genealogy page will tell you whether we have material of relevance to you.