I cannot restore my iphoto library from Time Machine

I have lost my iphoto library. I am trying to restore it from a backup and it was located in the My Pictures folder. When I try and restore it, there is a big red circle with a dash in it saying I don't have permission to open the folder it is in. These have all of my prescious photos and I am devistated that they may be lost! Why can't I access this folder and get my photos back - what do I need to do?