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Penn Museum must receive a formal letter of request to borrow objects from the collections. This letter should be addressed to the Director and copied to the Assistant Registrar, Loans who will be responsible for processing it for approval by the necessary departments.  The letter should include:

• information about the proposed exhibition or project
• the location where the exhibition or project will occur
  
• the proposed loan dates
  
• the proposed exhibition title if available
  
• a list of the objects requested including names and accession numbers, or an indication of the type and quantity of objects requested
  
• facilities report of the location/venue

Penn Museum attempts to assist with as many loan requests as possible.  Due to the volume of loan activity and the need to coordinate with other departments and outside resources a minimum of 6 months for domestic loans and 1 year for international loans from the receipt of the formal letter of request is usually required for the processing of a loan.  Large loans, involving 25 or more objects, may also require 1 year's advance notice.  The more advance notice we receive the better our ability to process your loan request.

If the loan is approved, Penn Museum’s loan agreement will be issued by the Registrar's Office for the appropriate signatures at the borrowing institution.  It is the policy of this institution to use Penn Museum’s loan agreement as the sole binding contract for all outgoing loans.  The signed loan agreement and a certificate of insurance in the amount indicated on the loan agreement must be received by the Registrar's Office before the loan objects can leave Penn Museum.

A general loan fee is charged for all loans to cover administrative and incidental costs.   Additional fees for necessary conservation work, packing materials or services and shipping will be invoiced to the borrowing institution.  See the Schedule of Fees for details.

All conservation work, packing and shipping arrangements will be undertaken by Penn Museum staff, or firms they designate.  All such work will be coordinated by the Registrar's Office and any exceptions must be approved by them.