Residency Dates

The Fellowship year runs from June 1 to May 31. Visiting Scholars must complete their residency by May 31 of the following year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dates of residency will be flexible for remaining 2019-20 and 2020-21 award recipients. 

Recipients of 2-week travel grants and 4-week visiting scholars are expected to be in residence for the entire term of their award. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the Director in special cases.

We will do our best to accommodate your preference for dates. Please plan to arrive during the Library’s open hours, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 8:30 am to 4:45 pm, Wednesdays 10:00 am to 4:45 pm. 

The Library is closed on weekends as well as the days listed below.  With the exception of Winter Break, you are welcome to be in residence during these closures.

Library Closure Dates for 2023: 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Monday, January 16

Good Friday: Friday, April 7

Memorial Day: Monday, May 29

Juneteenth: Monday, June 19

Independence Day: Tuesday, July 4

Labor Day: Monday, September 4

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 23

Recess Day: Friday, November 24

Winter Break (Residency not permitted): Friday, December 22 through Friday, December 29

Library Closure Dates for 2024:

New Year's Day: Monday, January 1

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Monday, January 15

Good Friday: Friday, March 29

Memorial Day: Monday, May 27

Juneteenth: Wednesday, June 19

Independence Day: Thursday, July 4

Labor Day: Monday, September 2

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 28

Recess Day: Friday, November 29

Winter Break (Residency not permitted): Tuesday, December 24 through Tuesday, December 31

NETWORK ACCESS

The LWL, as part of Yale University, has joined the eduroam consortium. If your home institution participates in the eduroam consortium, you will also be able to login using credentials from your home institution.

If you are not from an institution participating in the eduroam consortium, the LWL’s Library Services Assistant will assist in registering your computer on the Yale network when you arrive.

There are secure wireless routers located around LWL and on the main Yale campus in New Haven to provide you with access to the Yale network and the internet, both at LWL and on campus.  You will also have access to all of the licensed databases to which the Yale University Library subscribes. For a detailed list of some of the databases especially useful for the study of Britain in the eighteenth century, consult the research guide British Eighteenth-Century Studies Electronic Resources, which is maintained by LWL.

YALE LIBRARY PRIVILEGES

See COVID Library Updates for the latest policies regarding access to other Yale Special Collections. 

You may ask to have books that circulate for more than three days sent from the main campus to you at the LWL in Farmington. Please speak with the Reading Room monitor who will place the request for you. When the books arrive, you can check them out just as you would from any Yale Library, and you can return them to the LWL. This service is only available to 4-week Visiting Scholars because of the delay in delivery time. Please allow 5 days for delivery.

You may use other Yale Special Collections during your stay as a Lewis Walpole Library Fellow. Many of the collections store material off-site, so please place your requests two days in advance of when you'd like to schedule your visit. 

Plan your visit. 

In addition, if you plan to go to New Haven, please let the staff at the Lewis Walpole Library Reading Room know in advance.

IMPORTANT: Please fill out and return your Visiting Scholar Travel Information Form and Federal Tax Identification Forms as soon as possible. 

VISITING SCHOLAR TRAVEL INFORMATION FORM

This form is used to reserve your time here at the LWL and to get a sense of your travel arrangements needs. Please fill out and return your Visiting Scholar Travel Information Form to the Senior Administrative Assistant, Michelle Privée (michelle.privee@yale.edu) as soon as possible. If you do not yet know when you will be able to take up your award, please indicate that you are unsure and that you will let us know as soon as your plans are clear. 

Please be aware that dates of residency are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis and some dates may not be available if you wait.

FEDERAL TAXPAYER IDENTIFICATION FORMS

These forms are necessary in order to process your reimbursements.

United States Residents

All visiting scholars that are residents of the United States must fill out the Federal form W-9 and submit with the Visiting Scholar Travel Information Form. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Foreign Residents

All visiting scholars that are not United States residents must fill out the Federal form W-8BEN and submit with the Visiting Scholar Travel Information Form. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf

All 2-week Travel Grant and 4-week Visiting Scholar award recipients receive

• reimbursement for round trip travel costs from your home, or home institution, to Farmington
• use of a rental car
• a per diem payment for meals and incidental expenses for each day you are in residence at the LWL. The per diem is automatically calculated using the US General Services Administration’s current per diem rates (M & IE portion) for the Hartford, CT area. There is no need to keep receipts. Parking on campus is included in the per diem

Please see important Tax Information below. 

GETTING TO THE LIBRARY

NOTE: Please plan to arrive at the library during our scheduled open times. If you cannot arrive during these times, please make alternate arrangements (such as a hotel for an evening).  

Your visiting scholar award includes the cost of round trip travel between the Lewis Walpole Library and your home institution or residence. When paying out of pocket for travel expenses, you must provide receipts. The LWL covers the cost of economy flights on approved airlines.  You will need to charge any upgrades and/or additional costs to a personal credit card.

We recommend that you fly into Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Hartford, Connecticut.  The Library is about a 40-minute trip from Bradley.  You may rent a car at the airport (see the next section for more information) or take a cab or Uber to the LWL. If you take a cab, please get a receipt from the cab company and submit it for reimbursement. 

You may also book rail travel via Amtrak through your Egencia account. The closest train station is in Hartford or Berlin, each about ten miles away.  Please note that, due to increased security, it is recommended to carry ID when traveling with Amtrak. (http://www.amtrak.com)

A more frequent, local commuter train, The Hartford Line, also runs between New Haven and Hartford (http://www.hartfordline.com).

Neither of the train stations is within walking distance to the Library. The Library has a car in which we may be able to pick you up at the Berlin, CT train station. Please contact us to make arrangements in advance of your arrival. Otherwise, if you arrive by train, you must plan on taking a taxi, Uber, or Lyft from the train station to the LWL. Taxis are usually waiting at the train station in Hartford but not in Berlin. Again, make sure you obtain a receipt for your travel, and submit it for reimbursement. 

Further Train Details

If you choose to use your personal vehicle, we will reimburse you for round trip mileage based on a MapQuest route from the address provided on the Visiting Scholar Travel Information Form to The Lewis Walpole Library. The rate is set using the Internal Revenue Service Standard Mileage Rate. We will also reimburse you for tolls you pay along your route. Gas will not be reimbursed. Again, please provide receipts for the tolls. 

Note: According to the Yale Ground Transportation Policy--Use of Personal Automobiles 3301.3, personal vehicle reimbursement is limited to no more than the cost of a comparable trip’s air travel within the basic least expensive unrestricted accommodations class offered by commercial airlines, consistent with business requirements.
If a personal vehicle is used primarily for the traveler’s convenience and results in a higher cost than other modes of transportation, reimbursement will be limited to the lower of the following:
•    cost of the air travel within the basic least expensive unrestricted accommodations class offered by commercial airlines, consistent with business requirements, between the nearest commercial airport serving the origin and destination cities; or
•    cost of train fare within the main cabin class (e.g., economy, coach) that is reasonably priced, consistent with business requirements, between the nearest passenger station serving the origin and destination cities.

If you are using GPS to locate the Library, you must use the following street address:  154 Main St., Farmington, CT  06032.

If you choose not to rent a car while you are in residence, the Library will cover a reasonable number of taxi, Uber, Lyft, train, or bus fares for local travel directly related to your visiting scholar commitment. Many of our past Visiting Scholars have used Uber and have had great experiences with them, as well as being more economical than a taxi.

CAR RENTAL

Your Lewis Walpole Library Visiting Scholars award includes reimbursement for the use of a rental car while in residence. International scholars are required to have an appropriate driver’s license from their own country or an international license. If you did not rent a car at the airport and you want one, you can make an appointment to rent a car online or by calling the closest office with any of the below vendors. If you need assistance please see our Senior Administrative Assistant at the LWL.

Please note that you will need to cover the up-front cost of the rental yourself. A one-month rental is approximately $1,000-1,500. Yale University has negotiated rates with Enterprise, Hertz, Budget and Avis.  You should use the following discount numbers to book vehicles:

Enterprise – XZ24YAL
Hertz – CDP-344712
Budget – T245500
Avis – A424900. 

These rates include collision and supplemental liability coverage. The Library will reimburse the basic cost of an economy car rental, taxes, mandatory fees, and surcharges. We cannot reimburse the costs of additional insurances beyond those included in the negotiated rates (CDW, PAI, or SLP), vehicle upgrades, additional equipment, or additional drivers.

When you return the car, please be sure to get a receipt from the rental agency, and send the final receipt and rental agreement to our Senior Administrative Assistant.  An electronic scan of the final receipt is acceptable. Once received, we will process your reimbursement.

NEW: US Border Agents at most airports have now suspended immigration stamps. Instead, please be sure to download your I-94 online after arrival and submit to Michelle Privee at michelle.privee@yale.edu. You can access your I-94 here: I94 - Official Website (dhs.gov)

If you are not coming on a J-1 Visa (which is not required), when you arrive in the US you must request Visa Waiver status of either B-1 or WB (Travel for Business) from the US BCBP agents.  This will allow the LWL to pay you for your living and travel expenses. It would be helpful to bring a copy of your LWL Visiting Scholar award offer letter with you to show as proof to the agents that you will be receiving payment from Yale for your research.

It is very important that you double-check that you have the correct entry status before you leave immigration. If you have a WT or B-2 (travel for Leisure), you must ask to have this corrected to a WB or B-1 status. If you have any problems, please call Yale's Office of International Students and Scholars at 1 (203) 432-2305.

Having an incorrect immigration entry status will negatively affect your reimbursements!

In order to reduce the cost of visa application fees to our fellows, the visiting scholar program pays a meal and incidental expense per diem rate in accordance with the U.S. General Services Administration regulations. This reimbursement of costs allows most visiting scholar award recipients to use the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in lieu of applying for a J-1 visa. This only applies to 2- and 4- week international scholars who are from countries participating in the VWP and who are not already in the U.S. for other purposes. Applying for a J-1 Visa is a still an option if you would like to take the time to apply for one, and will guarantee your reimbursements. However, please be advised that the J-1 Visa process is a lengthy one. If you are already in the US on an H1-B Visa, please consult your sponsoring institution for research allowance.

If you will be studying at Yale (in any department) for longer than 30 days within the calendar year, you are required to apply for a J-1 Visa in order to be reimbursed.

• To determine eligibility and for more information on the VWP
• More information regarding the J-1 Visa

FORMS

All individuals who are not a citizen of the United States are required to fill out the form W-8BEN and submit to the Senior Administrative Assistant as soon as possible. 

Prior to the end of your stay, you will be required to fill out Yale’s International Information Form (IIF). You will only need to fill out section 1. Please see the Senior Administrative Assistant for this form at the end of your stay.

Payments to non-U.S. citizens (nonresident alien for U.S. tax purposes) are subject to 30% federal tax withholding, per Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations. 

To apply to receive funds back, you will have to file an income tax return with the US government.  The process is as follows: Yale will send IRS Form 1042-S to you by March 15 of the next calendar year to your current address on file (if your address changes, please let the Senior Administrative Assistant know).  The form reports your income and tax withheld.  You can find nonresident tax filing information from the Office of International Student and Scholars to assist with filing your income tax return. 

When you arrive at the LWL, you will check in with us.  At that time, you will complete all necessary forms needed to process your payment for reimbursement of travel expenses and per diem (if applicable). 

You must provide the following:

• Passport photo

• Most Current entry stamp in passport OR I-94

• Completed W-8BEN (if not already submitted with Visiting Scholar Travel Information Form)

• Form 8233 (if applicable)

For additional information or help with immigration to the United States, please contact Yale's Office of International Students & Scholars  or (203) 432-2305.

For additional information about payments see Yale Policy 3415: Payments to individuals who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of the United States, contact Yale's International Tax Department at (203) 432-5530, or email Internationaltax@yale.edu.

Also, please ask the Senior Administrative Assistant if you have any questions.