The Newberry Library in Chicago has announced that it will reopen on 18 January, following a temporary closure due to the Omicron wave of Covid.

The Newberry Library states: “We look forward to welcoming you back to the Newberry starting Tuesday, January 18. We’ve updated our COVID-19 visitor policy, following new guidance from public health officials.”

Many undergraduate and graduate students in History, English, and other Humanities disciplines use Newberry collections in their research projects on a wide variety of subjects. The Newberry houses impressive collections of manuscripts, printed pamphlets, and rare books that support original research in history, literary studies, cartography, history of the book, history of science, history of medicine, and interdisciplinary Renaissance studies.

A number of doctoral candidates in History have pursued manuscript and rare books research in Renaissance studies and early modern history at the Newberry on topics such as armed clergy during the French Wars of Religion and information management in Louis XIV’s France. Other NIU students have used Newberry resources in their teaching and Digital Humanities projects on Illinois History, United States History, European History, and World History.

Faculty members and graduate students in History at NIU have actively participated actively in the seminars, conferences, and other programs of the Newberry Library’s research centers:

Center for Renaissance Studies

D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies

Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography

Chicago Studies Program

The Newberry Library also supports teacher training and high school teaching of history and the humanities in the Chicago area.

It is certainly welcome news that the Newberry Library will be reopening just in time for the beginning of the Spring 2022 semester.

The Newberry Library has posted its updated visitor guidelines on its website.