Early HLS Manuscripts: Act Now or Wait until August

Judging from the message Karen S. Beck, Manager of the Historical & Special Collections at the Harvard Law School Library, sent out over H-Law earlier today, anyone who uses "early" HLS manuscripts had better consult their research plans for the present through this summer.  Ms. Beck wrote:

Due to a major construction project involving the Harvard Law School Library's Historical & Special Collections stack areas, all of HSC's early manuscripts and books (including the Red Set of tenured faculty members' writings) will be unavailable to researchers from November 24, 2011 through July 31, 2012, except as follows.

If you wish to visit HSC to consult specific books or early manuscripts during this time period, please email us at specialc@law.harvard.edu by Friday, November 11, 2011 and tell us which materials you wish to use. . . .  We will reserve these materials in our reading room and will not send them offsite with the rest of the collection, and you may consult them by appointment as described below.

Because large portions of our collection will be unavailable to staff as well as researchers, our ability to answer reference questions will be limited. If you do have a question, please email us and we will do our best to assist you.

During this time, it will still be possible to consult modern manuscripts and portions of the visual materials collection by appointment, Monday - Friday between 10 am and 5 pm. Please arrange an appointment and request all materials two business days in advance of your visit. For more information, consult our webpage, "Planning Your Visit," at , or email us at the address above.

We expect to resume normal operations on August 1, 2012, though circumstances beyond our control may dictate a change in this schedule; announcements will be posted as necessary. We recognize that this process is inconvenient for everyone, and we thank you for your patience and cooperation. Please get in touch with me if I can help in any way, and feel free to send this notice to colleagues who may be affected by this closure. Thank you for your help.

 Hat tip: H-Law