FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
About Visiting Fellowships

Application Procedures
Should sealed letters of recommendation be enclosed with the application or can they be sent directly to you?
Do you accept letters of recommendation by email, fax, or only by surface mail?
Will you accept my c.v. and proposal by email or fax?
Is a dossier letter acceptable as a recommendation for a Beinecke Fellowship?
Who should write my recommendation letters?
How detailed should the proposal be? Should it be double-spaced or single-spaced?
Do I need to mention a specific award name in my proposal?
Eligibility
I am currently enrolled in a degree program. Will I be eligible to apply for a Beinecke Fellowship after I complete my degree requirements (thesis, exams, etc), or is conferment of the degree required?
I am currently pursuing a second Masters in a completely different field from the research I wish to propose for a Beinecke Fellowship. My research at the Beinecke will have nothing to do with my current degree coursework. If I wish to apply for a fellowship, do I qualify?
Can I propose research in collections available at other Yale University libraries?
Who can apply for a Beinecke Fellowship? Can a non-US citizen apply? Can I apply without a Ph.D? Can creative writers proposing research projects apply?
Scheduling the Fellowship Period
My schedule won’t allow me to take a whole month off. Can the awarded month of the fellowship be split up?
Must the fellowship period coincide with the academic calendar?
Reference and Collection Help
How can I find out about materials in the Beinecke collections?
Contact Information
What is the postal address of the Beinecke?
I want to express mail my application. What is the building address for express deliveries to the Beinecke?
How can I reach the fellowships program by phone, fax, or email?

Should sealed letters of recommendation be enclosed with the application or can they be sent directly to you? Recommendation letters should be addressed to the Beinecke Director, written on the recommenders' letterhead, and sent in sealed envelopes. You may include the sealed letters with your application material, or your recommenders may send their letters to the Director.

Do you accept letters of recommendation by email, fax, or only by surface mail? We prefer that recommendation letters arrive as sealed, signed hard copies. Signed, faxed copies of recommendation letters will also be accepted. We prefer that you do not email any application material. Under special circumstances, recommendation letters may be accepted by email for preliminary review, but a hard copy via post, or a signed, faxed copy will be required for final consideration.

Will you accept my c.v. and proposal by email or fax? Please submit all application material in hard copy, via post. We prefer that you do not email or fax copies of application material. Under extraordinary circumstances, application forms, proposals, or CVs may be accepted by email or fax for preliminary review.

Is a dossier letter acceptable as a recommendation for a Beinecke Fellowship? No. Our application procedures specify that applicants must arrange to have "two confidential letters of recommendation specifically addressing the merits of their project" sent to the Beinecke Director. Dossier letters are non-starters because they rarely, if ever, address the candidate’s reasons for wanting to use the Beinecke collections.

Do I need to mention a specific award name in my proposal? No. Fellowships are awarded on the basis of merit and relevance to the Beinecke collections, not on the basis of specific fit to any particular named fellowship.

Who should write my recommendation letters? Your confidential letters of recommendation must specifically address the merits of your project. These letters should be written by instructors or colleagues who are familiar with your work and best able to assess your proposal for research at the Beinecke Library.

How detailed should the proposal be? Should it be double-spaced or single-spaced? Successful proposals normally explain in extensive and specific detail the relationship of the Beinecke collections to the project and the significance of the project to its larger field of scholarly concern. Please double-space your proposal, and we recommend that it not exceed 1200 words. The content and clarity of your presentation, however, and the relevance of the proposal to the holdings at the Beinecke Library, are much more important than the exact length and format of your proposal.

What is the postal address of the Beinecke?

The postal address is:

Director
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven, CT 06520-8240

I want to express mail my application. Is there a separate building address for express deliveries to the Beinecke? Yes. Please note that the building address has a different zip code (and no P.O. box).

The express mail building address is:

Director
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

How can I reach the fellowships program by phone or fax?

Phone: (203)432-2956
Fax: (203)432-4047
Email: beinecke.fellowships@yale.edu

I am currently enrolled in a degree program. Will I be eligible to apply for a Beinecke Fellowship after I complete my degree requirements (thesis, exams, etc), or is conferment of the degree required? Students enrolled in degree programs are ineligible to apply for a Visiting Fellowship. It is necessary to have your degree in hand at the time that you apply. You are welcome to meet the next application deadline following the conferment of your degree.

I am currently pursuing a second Masters in a completely different field from the research I wish to propose for a Beinecke Fellowship. My research at the Beinecke will have nothing to do with my current degree coursework. If I wish to apply for a fellowship, do I qualify? The short answer is that you are not eligible to apply if you are enrolled in a degree program. However, if you will be receiving a degree in a program NOT relating to the subject of your proposed research, you have the option of providing, along with your application, a detailed description of your educational history that helps us understand that your current enrollment and your proposed research are unrelated.

Can I propose research in collections available at other Yale University libraries? Beinecke Fellowships cannot be awarded for research in other Yale collections outside of the Beinecke. These fellowships are awarded on the basis of merit and specific relevance to the Beinecke collections. Awarded fellows, however, do receive library privileges for the whole Yale library system, and are welcome to spend spare time at any Yale library to supplement their primary work at the Beinecke.

Who can apply for a Beinecke Fellowship? Can a non-US citizen apply? Can I apply without a Ph.D? Can creative writers proposing research projects apply? Anyone is welcome to apply for a Visiting Fellowship as long as you are not currently enrolled in a degree program, and as long as you do not live in the New Haven area.

My schedule won't allow me to take a whole month off. Can the awarded month of the fellowship be split up? Applicants have the option of requesting specific dates for their fellowship period, and may request a split month on the application form under special circumstances (for instance, November 1-14 and January 15-30). All such requests will be evaluated during the review process. If granted, the stipend payment will be prorated, and a single round-trip journey will be reimbursed.

Must the fellowship period coincide with the academic calendar? Yes. Visiting Fellowships must be taken up after September 1 and before May 31. Summer months in the Reading Room are reserved for Yale Graduate and Professional School Fellows.

How can I find out about materials in the Beinecke collections? Links for Beinecke research services as well as finding books, manuscripts and images in the Beinecke collections are available at the top of this page.