On arrival at the Archives, you will enter the Archives Reading Room. You will be asked to fill out a Research Application and review and sign the Reading Room Rules.

You may bring a laptop computer, notebook papers, pencils, and a camera (if approved in advance) for research into the Reading Room, but all other personal items (bags, jackets, etc.) must be stores in a locker during your visit. We do not allow the use of digital imaging devices such as handheld scanners. Food and beverages are prohibited.

Mobile phones are permitted in the room, if placed on vibrate or silent. Researchers should be respectful of others in the reading room and move any phone conversations out into the Aquinas Hall foyer.

The Reading Room is the only room in the Archives accessible to the public. The storage areas are closed to public access for security and preservation purposes. Any materials needed by researchers will be brought to the Reading Room by a staff member or trained volunteer.

Researchers can freely access several resources in the Reading Room. Some of these include University Publications such as yearbooks, bound volumes of the student newspaper The Tower, Alumni Directories, Course Catalogs and Announcements, and The Catholic University Bulletin. Other publications housed in our Reading Room include Annual Reports of the National Catholic Welfare Council, Proceedings of the annual Meeting of the National Catholic Education Association, The U.S. Catholic Historian, and the minutes of the Annual National Conference of Catholic Charities.

Members of our professional staff are on hand at all times to answer questions and help direct your research using our collections.

The Reading Room closes promptly at 4 p.m. and we ask that researchers stop working and begin to prepare to leave at 3:50. Last retrieval for materials must be submitted by 3:15 p.m.