On December 6, 2019 the Lilly Library building closed for a once-in-a-generation renovation

11/15/2019: I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcast episode 180 was recorded at our Lilly Library during the Baker Street Irregulars' conference. The event was the celebration of the BSI Archive officially opening at the Lilly. It featured a walk-through the exhibition "The History of the BSI Through 221 Objects." Several Lilly Library staff members are interviewed during the podcast: Live from the Lilly Library

On December 6, 2019 the Lilly Library building will close for a complete interior renovation. To protect our irreplaceable materials, all items will be carefully removed from the building into secure storage. Soon a majority of the collections will be available in a limited way to researchers at the Herman B Wells Library.

Among the important collections added to the Library in recent years is the "Jonathan Krause Rare Newspaper and Magazine Collection," which spans the mid-seventeenth through the late-nineteenth centuries, and has a special focus on late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century American publications. There is a very strong concentration on newspapers and magazines that includes the writings of the “Founding Fathers” of the United States, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine. There are also a number of earlier newspapers and magazines relating to the American Revolution, and a focus on later American history including slavery and abolitionism, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

The building will temporarily close Dec. 6 for its first major renovations since opening in 1960. There will be limited access to some collections until construction is complete in 2021.