Guide for instructors

Here is information you need to prepare for a class session at Beinecke. If you have any questions please email beinecke.education@yale.edu or directly to the librarian or curator you are collaborating with to develop your class. We look forward to working with you!

To request a class, please remember that we require:

  • Minimum of 2 weeks of notice to reserve a room, requested via the required online form.
    • Minimum of 1 week of notice (5 business days) to page materials that the instructor has requested through the library catalog or finding aids to the Aeon Event for the class session.
  • Maximum of 15 items in classrooms (10 in seminar rooms).
  • Minimum of 4 weeks of notice if you would like our staff to help plan the session and/or select and request materials on your behalf.
  • We consider all requests against space and staff availability. We may need to suggest an alternate day or time.

Classroom hours:

  • Monday/Tuesday/Thursday 9am-5:30pm
  • Wednesday 10am-5:30pm
  • Friday 9am-4:30pm

To request materials:

Once you have identified an item to use in class, click on the link or button to request it. This will redirect you to the Aeon request form and you will be asked to log on with your NetID. If you have not registered, you will be directed to do so.

As you fill out the request form, select the specific class using the “Request for” drop-down menu in the center of the request page. 

Please make your requests for at least one week (5 business days) in advance of your class or of your review session.

To review materials:

We highly encourage instructors to review materials before their session. Procedures for reviewing materials depend on when you are ready to review them. However, reviews should happen during regular reading room hours (ends at 4:30pm). Reviews during extended reading room hours may be possible with at least 1 week of notice to beinecke.education@yale.edu. 

More than 12 business days before class, materials will be reviewed in the reading room(s).

  • Request and review materials in the reading room at the owning library, returning them when you are finished. Materials you want to use in your session should then be re-requested for the class session as described above.
  • If you wish to use materials from Arts, Divinity, Medical Historical, or the Music Library in a Beinecke classroom, Education Program staff must place the request for that material. Email beinecke.education@yale.edu at least two week in advance to inquire about this possibility. 

Within 10 business days before class, materials will be reviewed through the Education Program. 

  • Email beinecke.education@yale.edu to schedule a review session between 5 and 8 business days before the class session.      
  • Remember that Education Program staff must place requests for materials from specialized libraries (Arts, Divinity, Medical Historical , Music). Email beinecke.education@yale.edu at least two week in advance to inquire about this possibility.  
     
  • On the day of your review, meet Education Program staff to the right of the service desk. The staff at the service desk will not have your materials.  
  • Review your materials, annotating the Aeon slip with “Keep,” “Return,” or “Hold for [date] class.”   
 
  • Education Program staff will return materials not to be used in the class. If alternate materials are needed, Education Program staff will place the requests. 

4-5 business days before class 

  • Education Program staff will prepare materials for use in the class session.  
  • Please familiarize yourself with our Classroom Use Guidelines and help us prepare students for their visit by reviewing the information below with them before the class session. Join us in helping students follow these best practices during the session to train them for future visits to the reading room. Thank you! 

To share with your students before your class at the Beinecke:

  • For all classes, please arrive with clean hands. Or you can wash your hands at the library just before class. It is important to have clean hands so you do not leave behind any traces on the collections you will be interacting with in class. 
  • You will need to leave most personal items in a locker. You can bring a small notebook and your phone or laptop into the classroom. (Pencils will be provided.) You can read more here: Classroom Use Guidelines  
  • You may take photographs (without flash) of the materials you consult in class. In fact, we encourage you to do so (as well as the call slip) so you can request the material later. Please read the Digital Photography Policy.  
  • If your class is in the Gates Classroom at Sterling Memorial Library, follow the directions on this guide: Directions - Finding the Gates Classroom & Lockers - Yale University Library