The University of Pennsylvania Library is one of the nation's great academic research centers. The continued excellence of the Library is essential to the University's research mission; its undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs; its ability to attract and retain outstanding faculty and students; and its worldwide scholarly community.

The Alumni and Friends Book Fund provides an endowment for the continuing acquisition of resources--books, manuscripts, journals, recordings, photographs, films, and electronic resources.

Benjamin Franklin had a vision of a center for "tools for improvement": "That a House be provided for the Academy...that the House be furnished with a Library...with Maps of all Countries, Globes, some Mathematical Instruments, and Apparatus for Experiments in Natural Philosophy, and for Mechanics; Prints of all Kinds, Prospects, Buildings, Machines, &c."

The generosity of generations of Penn Library Alumni and Friends keeps Franklin's vision alive. Consider continuing the tradition by making a gift now in honor or memory of a special person by visiting the Give Now section of our website.