We are located at 6801 Freret Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 in Jones Hall, Room 202 on the uptown campus of Tulane University. We are open for in-person appointments Monday-Friday between 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The reading room closes at 4:30 pm. All appointments must be made 24 hours in advance.

View in Google Maps

Jones Hall is directly across from the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane's main library. Jones Hall is #25 on this interactive campus map.

The Rare Books Collection, previously located on the 6th floor of the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, is now accessible in the Jones Hall reading room. Please email specialcollections@tulane.edu to make an appointment.

Public transportation

The city bus #57 (Franklin-Freret Bus) stops between Howard-Tilton Memorial Library and Jones Hall. 

The St. Charles Avenue streetcar stops right in front of Tulane University.

The fare for all city buses and streetcars is $1.25 each way (exact change required) or $5.00 per day for unlimited rides. 

To find Jones Hall from the streetcar stop:

• Exit the streetcar at the stop in front of Tulane University (same stop as the Audubon Park entrance).
• Walk through the upper campus to Freret St., which is the first street you come to.
• Cross Freret St, turn left on Freret St, and Jones Hall will be about half a block up the street on your right.

Researcher Registration and Appointments

To schedule an appointment, use the appointment scheduling form. Note that some collections are stored off-site and must be requested at least 3 days in advance. 

Many of the materials we steward are fragile and may require treatment before use. It is at the discretion of TUSC staff to determine if materials can be used safely in the reading room. We make every attempt to review requested materials in advance of approving appointments, but reserve the right to restrict access to any items that cannot be handled without detrimental damage. 

If you need assistance with finding materials or making requests before your appointment, please email specialcollections@tulane.edu or call (504) 865-5685

Getting Started in the Reading Room

All users must wash their hands with soap and water before and after handling materials.

TUSC materials are housed in closed stacks and are not open for public browsing. Researchers can request 5 books or 5 manuscript boxes at a time. They will be retrieved by our staff in advance of a researcher’s visit.  For long-term or visiting researchers, we will hold the materials for two weeks before they are returned to the stacks. 

For tips on handling rare materials, please consult Harvard Library's 10 Tips for Reading Room Success.

What can I bring into the Reading Room?

• Pencils
• Laptops or tablets (out of their cases)
• Cameras
• USB drives
• Cell phones (set to silent or vibrate)

For preservation and security reasons, these items are not allowed in the reading room. We have lockers that you can use to securely store your belongings.

• Bags, laptop sleeves, and cases of any kind
• Food, drink, gum, and candy
• Pens
• Outerwear and umbrellas
• Personal papers, notepads, binders, folders, or notebooks
• Photography stands or scanning equipment

Inside the reading room

• Researchers must use gloves when handling photographs, film and glass negatives, metal, and items encased in plastic sleeves.
• Researchers are allowed to have one box and one folder on the table at a time.
• Personal digital cameras or camera phones may be used to make copies of rare materials in the Reading Room. All photographs of materials must be used for private study, scholarship, or research purposes. Unless the materials are in the public domain or the doctrine of fair use is applicable, you will need to obtain permission from the appropriate copyright holder to publish, post online, donate, sell, or exhibit materials from TUSC’s collections. For more information, please see TUSC’s Duplication, AV Digitization & Permissions Guide.
• Keep documents flat in their original folder. Handle documents with care – no lifting, leaning on, or placing objects on top of archival materials.
• Self-service scanning is available. Many items, especially rare books or large architectural drawings, are too fragile to reproduce without endangering the originals. Please consult with the reading room staff about fragile or oversized materials.