If you're writing a nonfiction book on a Church e.g. the Catholic Church. But you are not a student of any university how to you go about requesting access to their theological library? can one just write to the librarian of say Heythrope and say 'I'm writing this book and I need to borrow some of your books for research?' or is there a particular proceedure?
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I suppose it depends on the church, but I think most are open to you just writing or walking in and doing research. I would start with the seminaries. They tend to hold vast amounts of theological and historical books, documents, and displays. Plus, you may have access to historical or theological experts working in or living near the seminary. The seminary my husband attended (not Catholic) had a library that was open to the public.
Eowyn78 said:
Most academic libraries, at universities, seminaries, or even museums and research institutions have guest privileges. You might not be able to borrow/take out materials, but you can use them at the library, and often, make photocopies, for a fee.
Go to the institution's web site and see if there's information about guest privileges. If not, e-mail the head librarian. Be specific about what you need.
In some cases, libraries that are specialized may need letters of reference--from clergy (denomination is not a big deal) or academics or scholars that are known or affiliated with the institution.
Heythrop is quite reasonble:
http://www.heythrop.ac.uk/library/about/access/index.html
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