The Vatican Library is preparing to close for a three-year overhaul, which has set off a scramble among scholars to access texts that will shortly go into storage. “Petitions addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, the ultimate authority on Vatican matters, are circulating among scholars. Some ask that the manuscript division at least remain accessible to the public during the three-year renovation. Others request that the closing be delayed until 2008 so that scholars will have time to wrap up research and meet publishing or teaching deadlines.”