The Library does not charge a fee for permission to publish brief quotations from material in its collections. The Library reserves the right to make additional charges for permission to publish as it deems appropriate in any individual case. All photographic reproduction fees must be prepaid. In order to protect the collections of the Shaw Historical Library, library users do not have direct access to the materials. The book collection is browseable in locked cabinets and the manuscript collections are in closed stacks.
All materials are available immediately upon request with the exception of restricted materials.
The rules of use state that patrons are prohibited from eating and drinking in the library, having unnecessary items near library materials, and using pens while using the collections. In addition, the rules of use provided specific instructions for using the book collection, manuscript collections, and image collections. Copies of the rules of use are available in the library. The library's collections are made available to library users on a first come-first serve basis. No library patron will take precedence over another in regard to the use of non-restricted materials.