Dear GSAS Students,
I wanted to make sure you saw the communication from Martha Whitehead, vice president for the Harvard Library and University librarian, to Harvard faculty about planning for phased reopening of physical libraries for research, which includes a link to the Library’s draft plan. GSAS students are especially invited to provide feedback, and I encourage you to use this opportunity to have a voice in the Library’s planning.
The Library is prioritizing research and teaching needs and plans to restart services that require staff to be on campus fulfilling virtual research and teaching requests. Vice President Whitehead wrote to FAS faculty with information about a limited circulation pilot and the resumption of the scan and deliver service, which you can read below. If you are teaching this summer or fall or are conducting research and require materials, tutorials, or other library services, including course reserves, the best place to start is with Ask a Librarian, or by emailing your subject matter liaison. Please also watch GSAS emails for events with Harvard librarians hosted by the GSAS Center for Writing and Communicating Ideas.
I know that many of you are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to access the Harvard resources you need to resume your research. I am pleased that a draft plan for reopening the library is now moving ahead, and I encourage you to provide feedback that will enable them to incorporate graduate student needs.
With all best wishes,
Emma Dench
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History and of the Classics
