The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is the principal repository for and steward of Temple University Libraries’ rare books, manuscripts, archives and University records. Our reading room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Due to the unique, rare, valuable and often fragile nature of the items in our collection, and because they are stored in several locations in the library as well as the offsite library depository, the use of many of these materials requires scheduling an appointment ahead of time which can be done online using your
SCRC Researcher Account. See our
FAQ to learn more about the SCRC Researcher Account.

SCRC Reading Room hours for Spring Semester 2019 (January 2 – May 8, 2019) will be limited to 12:30 pm-5:30 pm, Monday through Friday, as we prepare for our move into the new Charles Library. If you are planning on using SCRC materials any time during 2019, please be sure to visit this page and contact us for updated information.

For the duration of the move to Charles Library (starting in May 2019), the Special Collections Research Center’s collections will be largely inaccessible to all users. We will respond to requests for information about and from the collections as time and access permits but may defer in-depth response until resuming regular operations at the start of the fall semester.

Send inquiries to our general e-email, or call us at (215) 204-8257. You may also write us at: SCRC, Paley Library (017-00), 1210 Polett Walk, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122. Please include your name and complete contact information, as well as your specific question.

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Temple Unversity Libraries' SCRC holds approximately 90,000 feet of archives and manuscript material, and over 400,000 rare book and other published materials. The holdings include some history of medicine collections, including the records Temple University hospitals and medical schools, the records of the Philadelphia AIDS Library, the records of several social service agencies, disability rights history collections, the records of Einstein Medical Center, the personal papers of Dr. Temple Fay, and rare book collections documenting medical history generally and William Osler specifically.