The new Widener Newspaper Microfilm Reading Room includes 13 high-tech scanners on which patrons can browse and print about 165,000 reels of archived periodicals.

Harvard’s vast collection of newspapers on microfilm will leave the depths of Lamont Library today for a new home under Widener Library’s main rotunda—and Lamont’s extensive government document archives may soon vacate the premises as well, officials said.

In addition to about 165,000 reels of film, Widener’s new reading room includes “13 state-of-the-art reading scanners” with which patrons can view the archives, print them or burn them to CDs, said Marilyn D. Wood, Widener’s head of access services.

Wood said the move first occurred to library administrators several years ago while planning Widener’s current large-scale renovations. The space which the reading room occupies was desirable for a number of reasons, they said.

“Since it doesn’t have any windows or outside light, we realized it would be ideal for a microform collection,” said Nancy M. Cline, the Larsen librarian of Harvard College.

Many library administrators also praised the new location for its proximity to Harvard’s other major newspaper archives: the print copies already housed in Widener’s periodicals reading room.

“It’s difficult for people when things are in different formats because it gets frustrating,” said Jean Lenville, Widener’s head of serials services. “This hopefully will make things a little less frustrating. Even though it’s in a different format, it’s just around the corner.”

Lenville said she thought the new venue would bring valuable resources out of the shadows.

“It’s information from the times that you can’t get any other way, so historically it’s pretty important,” she said.

Cline said the new space in Widener came none too soon for Lamont’s overflowing shelves.

“Certainly the government documents and the microform collections are used by undergraduates, but we had reached a point where the collection there was really out of space,” she said.

The microfilm’s place will not remain empty for long, said Professor of History Ann M. Blair, who is a member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ standing committee on libraries.

“There’s some reference works in the depository which are going to come back to Lamont,” she said.

Blair and Cline said the faculty committee knew about the microfilm’s move.

“They don’t necessarily vote everything up or down, but definitely they were informed of it,” said Cline, though she noted that membership turnover on the committee meant some current members might not have been formally told about the change.