Penn Libraries News

Main content

Blog post search

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. 

...Continue reading

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.

...Continue reading

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. 

...Continue reading

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. 

...Continue reading

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. 

...Continue reading

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.

...Continue reading

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.

...Continue reading
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. 

...Continue reading

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.

...Continue reading

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

...Continue reading

April 2019

We moderns: A colourful history of the Gotham Book Mart

Source: The Times Literary Supplement
Published:

Photo Collection Project Takes A Walk In Ed Bacon’s Shoes

Source: HiddenCity Philadelphia
Published:

April 2019

Featured Books: National Poetry Month

Bookshelf

April is National Poetry Month, and Penn Libraries is celebrating in Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center with a Featured Books display filled an engaging selection of poetry and poetry-themed volumes. “When many people hear poetry, they might think, ‘Boring! Academic! Inaccessible!’,” says Eileen Kelly, Head of Collection Management. Indeed, as the poet Marianne Moore opines: “I too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond / all this fiddle.

...Continue reading

Gift of the Arthur Tress Collection of Japanese Illustrated Books Sets Penn Libraries Apart

Posted on April 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Arthur Tess

With the gift of the Arthur Tress Collection of Japanese Illustrated Books, the Penn Libraries has secured one of the best – if not the best – most complete and widest-ranging collections of Japanese illustrated books in the United States.

...Continue reading

Gail Johnson Celebrates Fifty Years of Service to the Penn Libraries

Gail Johnson

Gail Johnson is something of a legend at the Penn Libraries. Colleagues might know her for her impeccable style, her outfits brightening the staff hallway as she walks to her office. Some may know Gail as a great conversationalist with the most cheerful disposition and the most infectious laugh. Others may know Gail as one of the hardest-working employees in the Information Processing Center, setting standards for herself that produce results which exceed what was thought to be possible.

...Continue reading

Penn Libraries Announces the Gift of Two Iconic Documents of American Jewish History

Posted on April 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Sholem Aleichem tombstone epitaph

A generous gift from Robert V. Waife, great-grandson of the writer Sholem Aleichem and President of the Sholom Aleichem Network, Inc. will bring two iconic documents of American Jewish History, the handwritten ethical will and tombstone epitaph of celebrated Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, to the Penn Libraries.

...Continue reading

Recent Posts