The Lilly Library will close for renovations on December 6th until 2021. While the library is closed, a temporary reading room will be set up on the 10th floor of the East Tower of the Herman B Wells Library. 

The Lilly Library is home to a vast collection of 8.5 million manuscripts and nearly half a million books. The collection has to move to storage for the last stage of renovations. A small portion will be unavailable while renovations are being completed, a list of those items is available on the Lilly Library website. 

The reading room in Herman B Wells library will be by appointment only. To request time with items, the librarians ask that you send an email at least one week in advance to allow them time to retrieve items from storage and bring them to the reading room. 

The closure makes it difficult for researchers such as famed author Dan Wakefield to finish on time with the materials they need. 

“Well, it has a very good effect, because I have to get going fast,” Wakefield says. “I would like to do all that I need to do before December 6th.”

Wakefield is working on a young adult novel about Kurt Vonnegut, starting with his childhood up until he sold his first short story. Wakefield has been coming to Bloomington twice a week to try to  get his research completed by the December 6th deadline. 

“They really make everything as easy as possible,” Wakefield says. “I mean the uneasy part is the work you’ve  got to do. But it’s really a great place.”

The Lilly Library provides free open access to its vast collection and is used by professors often for classes. 

The Lilly Library hasn’t had major interior renovations since it opened in 1960. The renovations include improved lighting, mechanical, and safety systems. Also, there will be updated classroom space and technological improvements. 

Digitized materials will still be available on the Lilly Library website and librarians will continue to digitize files throughout the renovations for the public to access.