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Diversity in the Stacks: Central American Political and Social History

Posted on by Brie Gettleson
Two books are stacked on a table. The top book says "Los indígenas también queremos ser guatemaltecos..." and shares author name of Alberto Esquit Choy.

Recognizing the importance of Central American Studies, the Penn Libraries recently acquired a substantial collection of ephemera, books, and audiovisual materials from the region. 

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Penn Libraries Establishes Lecture Series on Global Subjects

The pavilion in the Kislak Center has a full audience, with some people clapping.

The newly endowed Park-Choi Lecture Series supports the Penn Libraries’ ongoing commitment to meaningful engagement with individuals, institutions, and communities through scholarship support and programming.

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University of Pennsylvania Libraries Announces Brian Vivier as Inaugural Director of the Center for Global Collections

Posted on
Brian Vivier

In his new role, he will provide strategic vision, leadership, and oversight for the Center in building world-class distinctive global collections and engaging programming. 

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Making Science Labs Safer at the University of Pennsylvania

Posted on by Rebecca Ortenberg
A computer screen showing a spreadsheet on the left and a page from the PubChem website on the right. Most of the text is unreadable, but on the PubChem website you can see warning symbols in red boxes.

It’s the job of Penn's Office of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety (EHRS) to develop, implement, and manage the systems that keep the university's many science labs as safe as possible. But in the last few years, the team has begun turning to chemistry librarian Judith Currano as a vital partner in these processes. 

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Summer Featured Books and DVDs: For the Love of Food

Posted on by Amanda Alexander
DVDs lined up in a row with "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" in the front

Some of us eat to live, and some of us live to eat. For some of us, making and eating food can also be a rich source for cultural analysis and storytelling. This month’s featured materials show some of the many ideas and values food can represent. 

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New eBook Subscription: Harvard Business Publishing Collection

Posted on by Cynthia Cronin-Kardon
Covers of three books from the eBooks package: Collision Course, Compassionate Leadership, and Beyond Collaboration Overload.

Just in time for summer reading season, the Penn Libraries has subscribed to the Harvard Business Review ebooks package from EBSCO.

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Books on the Move: Changes in the Van Pelt Stacks

Posted on
A masked individual moves books from a shelf to a rolling cart

Through Summer 2023, the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center stacks are undergoing a multi-phase refresh and reorganization.

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Diversity in the stacks

Diversity in the Stacks: Highlights from the Penn Sexuality Collection

Posted on by David Azzolina
The cover of the first issue of the magazine Blue on the front cover, showing a man with dark hair looking at the camera in a sultry manner

The Penn Sexuality Collection will add materials to the Penn Libraries that fall outside the usual purview of academic libraries, helping to make the Libraries a destination for sexuality researchers. 

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Rebuilding Rare Books in a Virtual Space: A Conversation with Curator Dot Porter

Posted on by Rebecca Ortenberg
Two people stand at the edge of the frame reaching out towards a large book sitting in a box in the middle of the table

We recently sat down with curator Dot Porter to talk about how she tries to bring very old books to life in the digital world.

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June Featured Books and DVDs: Pride Month

Posted on by Amanda Alexander
DVDs in top row are Moonlight, The Celluloid Closet, Ammonite, and Pariah. Bottom row is Rock Hudson's home movies, The Signifyin' Works of Marlon Riggs, A Fantastic Woman, and Welcome to Chechnya.

Penn’s LGBT Center will be kicking off their Pride activities with a Queer Dance Class on Friday, June 3 , and will be hosting special events throughout the month. In the meantime, LGBT Center staff provided the Penn Libraries with the following recommendations, each of which offers an an inspiring and enriching reading or watching experience

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February 2019

Penn Libraries and venerable Philadelphia Athenaeum form bookish alliance

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Published:

February 2019

Manuscript Scholar and Open Data Advocate Dr. William Noel Appointed to Associate Vice Provost for External Partnerships at the Penn Libraries

Posted on February 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Will Noel

Dr. William Noel has been appointed Associate Vice Provost for External Partnerships, in addition to his current role as Director of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts and Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS).

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Musical Encounters: Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen and Matías Tarnopolsky meet Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, and Marian Anderson in the Penn Libraries

Posted on February 2019 by John H. Pollack
Philadelphia Orchestra Schubert Symphonie No. 8 program

On Saturday, February 16, 2019, world-renowned conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, in town to guest conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra, squeezed in some time for a visit to the Lea Library at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts before his evening concert.

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Centering the Librarian in Patient Care: In Conversation with Kathleen Fox, Eugene Garfield Resident in Science Librarianship

Kathleen Fox

When picturing a patient care team trying to solve a medical mystery, most people envision a group of well-known medical professionals: doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, and even pharmacists might come to mind – but librarians? Not so much. However, Kathleen Fox, Penn Libraries’ current Eugene Garfield Resident in Science Librarianship, explains that health sciences librarians actually play a critical role in patient care.

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Congratulations to Varvara Kountouzi and Lapis Cohen on Receiving Honorable Mention Recognition in the 2019 Models of Excellence Program Awards

Posted on February 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Models of Excellence logo

The Penn Libraries would like to congratulate Barbara Kountouzi, Head of the Digital Media & Virtual Services at the Biomedical Library and  Library Specialist Lapis Cohen on receiving honorable mention recognition in the 2019 Models of Excellence Program Awards!

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Major Collection Focusing on African American Women, Cookery, and Children’s Literature Comes to Penn Libraries

Posted on February 2019
Joanna Banks

For Washington, D.C.,-based book collector Joanna Banks, one of the proudest moments in her life was when she received her own library card. Now, her connection to libraries has reached a new level with Banks’s gift to the Penn Libraries of her collection of works by and about African Americans, a major trove of over 10,000 books, periodicals, recordings, and photographs.

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ENIAC Day: Celebrating Women, Feminism, and Tech @Education Commons

Posted on February 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Penn Libraries ENIAC Day graphic woman old computer

The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, aka ENIAC, the world’s first electronic general-purpose computer, was developed at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering, now the School of Engineering and Applied Science. In recognition of this accomplishment, the Philadelphia City Council officially declared February 15th – the anniversary of the computer’s unveiling – as “ENIAC Day.”

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Penn Libraries’ Dr. Will Noel Selected to Deliver Prestigious Lecture Series at Cambridge

Posted on February 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Will Noel

The Penn Libraries is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Will Noel, Director of the Kislak Center for Special Collections and the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, as the Reader for the 2018-2019 series of Sandars Lectures in Bibliography at the University of Cambridge. Instituted 1895, these free public lectures feature experts in the field of bibliography, recently exploring topics in typography, codicology, historical printing methods, and book collecting.

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Penn Libraries and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia Announce a Transformative Integration Agreement

Posted on February 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Watercolor of Athenaeum building

The Penn Libraries proudly announces a new partnership with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia that will transform access to this independent library’s historically rich research collection. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia is a venerable institution founded in 1814 to collect materials connected with American history, antiquities, and arts for public benefit. The Athenaeum’s collections both complement the depth and breadth of Penn’s collections.

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Penn Libraries’ Acquisition of Laurence Sterne Materials Fortifies 18th Century Literature Collection

Posted on February 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Photo of book

The Penn Libraries now houses the best collection of material relating to 18th century British novelist Laurence Sterne and his works in the western hemisphere with its acquisition of the Geoffrey Day Collection of Sterneana. Sterne is most famous for his nine-volume novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman which attracted a wide readership in its day and remained influential to writers and thinkers throughout the 19thand 20th centuries.

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