Ball State University Archives and Special Collections: Exhibit Loan Policy

As part of its effort to support scholarship and learning, Archives and Special Collections lends items from its collections for temporary exhibition. Materials are loaned to institutions that meet the conditions stated in the Ball State University Libraries Exhibit Loan Agreement form and/or the institutions own outgoing loan agreement. Items are not loaned to individuals.

Loan requests will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

• Physical condition of the item(s)
• Facilities and program of the borrowing institution, including appropriate qualifications of staff
• Anticipated need of the item(s) for Ball State University research, teaching and exhibition purposes
• Availability of staff to process the loan request  

Archives and Special Collections does not assess a loan fee or charge for staff time associated with lending materials.  Because loans must be balanced with other priorities, we are able to consider requests only for a limited number of items.

An authorized representative of the prospective borrowing institution must submit a letter of request two to three months in advance of the anticipated shipping date. A facilities report should accompany the request letter.

The request letter should include the following information:

• Title and dates of the exhibition
• Inclusive dates of proposed loan
• Name(s) and affiliation of exhibition curator(s)
• Detailed information about the item(s) to be borrowed: full citation and call number for printed materials; collection name, box and folder number for archival and manuscript materials
• Indication of plans for a published catalog and/or Web version of the exhibition; indication of any photography or scanning needs
• Statement of willingness to conform to the conditions of loan set by the lender

Send exhibition loan requests to Head of Archives User Engagement at libarchives@bsu.edu