Skip to content

Update: Access to collections for academic research and teaching

Author
Special Collections
Published Date
February 26, 2021

From 10 March we will be providing access to collections through the Special Collections Service reading room for academic research and teaching only.

For all other research requiring access to the collections, we will continue to provide this through our digital access to collections service.

If you would like to make a reading room booking, please ensure that you read the updated reading room guidance before contacting us as we have made a number of changes to our service.

Please note that we can only accept bookings in advance, and that our reading room is operating with reduced opening hours:

Weds-Fri: 9.30am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-4.00pm (we will close for an hour at lunch).

We will stagger the arrival times of researchers during the first 30 minutes of opening and we will inform you of your arrival slot. We will need to close promptly at the end of each session. Please allow time at the end of each session to collect your things. Entry will continue to be via the MERL reception.

Please note that due to the closure of the MERL public galleries, we cannot guarantee that refreshment facilities will be available on site.

Published Date
April 27, 2026

The immortal legacy of James Joyce

A review of the University of Reading Special Collection’s exhibition James Joyce: Enigmas and Puzzles, which ran from October 2025 to February 2026, by Jared Geraghty, undergraduate in Art.

Bookshelves with leather bound, 19th century books.
Published Date
March 24, 2026

Finding primary sources to study the transatlantic slave trade

What is a subject explorer for? Subject explorers support students by suggesting primary sources as jumping off points for their dissertation research. The…

Published Date
March 9, 2026

Visualising class, disability, and race on the Victorian stage

This post introduces, via sheet music covers, a few more real individuals whose stories can be used to explore histories of marginalised people. With only 800 of the covers catalogued so far, there are sure to be countless stories still waiting to be rediscovered.  

Published Date
February 23, 2026

Challenging our view of rigid Victorian gender boundaries through music covers

In the first of two blog posts showcasing the research potential of our Spellman Collection of Victorian music covers, we…

Published Date
February 13, 2026

Mills & Boon: The Surprise Archive 

Having long been a lover of a good romance novel, it was a dream come true to be granted permission…

Published Date
February 2, 2026

Festivals of the Imagination: early editions of novels and poetry by James Joyce 

In 2020, Stephen James Joyce, Joyce’s grandson, bequeathed the Solange and Stephen James Joyce Collection to the University of Reading Special…