Author: Rebecca Ortenberg

Digital Content Manager

As part of Penn Libraries’ Strategic Communications team, Rebecca is editor and lead writer for the Penn Libraries News blog, and she leads content-sourcing, creation, planning, monitoring, and daily posting to the Libraries' institutional social media channels.

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John Mark Ockerbloom has created a unique browsable database that examines book censorship past and present.

An individual stands in a library aisle holding a stack of books. Visible titles include Lysistrata, Maus, Angels in America, His Name is George Floyd, New Kid, and Ulysses. Shelves filled with books of various sizes and colors surround the individual on both sides, extending into the background.

We’re excited to share some of our newest services, collections, and features with you. Here’s just a taste of what we have to offer.

A tattooed hand with a watch is selecting a book from a stack of various hardcover books on a table. There are additional books scattered around the table.

We recently spoke with Sidiqi about her tumultuous journey from Afghanistan to the United States, her love of libraries, and what it has been like to make a new home in Philadelphia.

Arzoo Sidiqi stands in a brightly lit room in the library behind a table with a stack of books in front of her.

Get holiday card inspo, insights into the economics of the shopping season, and much more in this selection of posts from the Penn Libraries family of blogs.

illustration showing two cats, one black, one white, surrounded by boxes with covered with Christmas wrapping paper and bows. The white cat sits in a gift bag, and the black cat has a red bow on its head.

Get to know a few of the Penn Libraries' student workers.

Two students stand in front of the steps of Van Pelt Library on a sunny day, smiling at the camera.

Take a spin on history’s dance floor with an expert in scenes of dance in medieval manuscripts.

Zofia stands in front of a large wooden taken in the Lea Library. Behind here is a wall of bookshelves filled with old books.

For 30 years, the Online Books Page has been cataloging books and articles that can be found on the World Wide Web while advocating for open access publishing and the public domain.

A laptop sits on a desk beside a mug and a pair of glasses. On the laptop's screen is the landing page for the Online Books Page, a fully text-based web page.

For National Library Week, we sat down with Michael Carroll to learn about the Materials Library's unique collections.

Five shelves filled with colorful materials, including bricks, textiles, wood samples, tiles, and papers. Items are grouped by color. Colors from top to bottom: blue (left) white (right); pink (left) beige (right); red (left) brown (right); orange (left) grey (right); green (left) tan (right).

On MLK Day, children and their families were invited to the Penn Libraries to celebrate the power of storytelling.

Children sit around a large table coloring with colored markers.

Author: Rebecca Ortenberg

From Ulysses to romantasy, this site encourages you to explore banned books

Six New Things to Look for at the Penn Libraries This Year

Meet Arzoo Sidiqi, the Penn Libraries’ Afghan and Perso-Arabic Metadata Fellow

A Penn Libraries Holiday Round-Up

Meet the Penn Students Who Help Keep the Libraries Running Smoothly

Let’s Dance: A Journey Through Medieval Dance Iconography with Fulbright Fellow Zofia Załęska

Discover Your Next Read with the Online Books Page

Getting Creative with the Penn Materials Library

How the Penn Reads Literacy Project is Imagining a World Where Everyone's Story is Told