To this day, the French language plays an important role in North African countries like Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia—but that role is complex and contested.
Blog post search
Exploring the meanings of "home": Children’s lit recommendations from the Penn Libraries Community Engagement team

To celebrate the end of the semester, we invited the students from the Community Engagement team to tell us about children's books that feel like “home” to them.
Penn Libraries Announces Warhol@Penn Again Series

The Penn Libraries is pleased to announce Warhol@Penn Again, a series of exhibitions and programs celebrating the career of the King of Pop Art Andy Warhol during the period 1965-1968.
May Featured Books and DVDs: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

The Penn Libraries’ recommendations for books and DVDs to celebrate AAPI heritage reflect the diversity of populations comprised in this group.
“Translating Warhol,” a Symposium

The international symposium, to be held June 23-24, is supported by a grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Diversity in the Stacks: Folk and Tribal Arts in South Asia

In the last year, the Penn Libraries has purchase of several hundred volumes related to South Asian painting, textiles, music, and dance.
Penn Students, Faculty, and Staff Can Now Access Selections from the Criterion Collection through Kanopy

University of Pennsylvania students, faculty, and staff can now stream more than 500 iconic films in the Criterion Collection through the Kanopy video platform.
Penn Libraries Joins Elsevier Open Access Pilot

As part of this three-year pilot, authors who have published with many Elsevier journals and who were affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania at the time of publication will retroactively have their articles made open access.
April Featured Books and DVDs: National Poetry Month

Not sure where to begin in your exploration of poetry? Try easing in with a book of lyrics from a beloved musician, a nonfiction book about a poet, or a poetic film.
VR for social work & counseling - Mindscape Commons, plus new social work, counseling, & therapy videostreams

Mindscape Commons provides immersive, interactive, and virtual reality experiences, serious games and apps for teaching and research in counseling, social work, psychology, health sciences, and related programs. The ~300 titles in Mindscape Commons are viewable on most devices, with enhanced immersion available for Google-cardboard smartphones, Oculus headsets, and other VR devices.
...Continue readingFebruary 2020
Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers
Archive of pioneering author and artist comes to Penn Libraries
In museums: Suffrage, scandal, sloths, and rebellion
February 2020
Andrew Hart to Join the Penn Libraries as MacDonald Director of Preservation

In his new role, Hart will manage the Preservation, Conservation, and Physical Processing units of the Penn Libraries, including oversight of both print and digital preservation, the 3,200-square-foot Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory, and physical processing, repair, and binding.
Penn Libraries Releases Strategic Priorities for Feedback

The Penn Libraries provides services and collections to further the University of Pennsylvania’s research, teaching, and learning mission and to address the essential challenges and opportunities presented by a rapidly changing world. Our 2020-2025 strategic plan aligns our work with the Penn Compact 2020 pillars of inclusion, innovation, and impact and the University’s goal of advancing knowledge for good.
Featured Books: Black History Month

Visitors to the Penn Libraries can commemorate Black History Month through a number of curated book displays — including the first of its kind at the Math/Physics/Astronomy Library. The inaugural Math/Physics/Astronomy Library Featured Book Exhibit features selected works in the Penn Libraries' collection authored by African American mathematicians, physicists, and astronomers.
Probing the “Time Capsule” of the Cairo Geniza at Adath Israel Synagogue

In mid-January, Emily Esten visited the Adath Israel synagogue in nearby Merion Station to deliver two presentations on the Cairo Geniza, one tailored to adult synagogue members and the other to children. “The Cairo Geniza is unique among digital humanities projects,” says Esten, who is the Penn Libraries’ Judaica Digital Humanities Coordinator.
Probing the “Time Capsule” of the Cairo Geniza at Adath Israel Synagogue

In mid-January, Emily Esten visited the Adath Israel synagogue in nearby Merion Station to deliver two presentations on the Cairo Geniza, one tailored to adult synagogue members and the other to children. “The Cairo Geniza is unique among digital humanities projects,” says Esten, who is the Penn Libraries’ Judaica Digital Humanities Coordinator.
Patricia Guardiola Named Director of the Fisher Fine Arts Library

The Penn Libraries is pleased to announce that Patricia Guardiola has been named the new Director of the Fisher Fine Arts Library. Guardiola joined the Penn Libraries in 2015 as Assistant Director of the Fisher library. Before coming to Penn, she was a Kress Fellow in Art Librarianship and then Reference and Instruction Librarian in the Haas Family Arts Library at Yale University.
'Making the Renaissance Manuscript: Discoveries from Philadelphia Libraries' Opens February 10

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to present Making the Renaissance Manuscript: Discoveries from Philadelphia Libraries, on display in the Goldstein Family Gallery on the sixth floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center from February 10 to May 19, 2020.
A Rare Discovery: Celebrating Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances with The Philadelphia Orchestra

A wholly unexpected musical discovery was at the center of a collaboration between the Penn Libraries and The Philadelphia Orchestra, as the two institutions partnered to celebrate the only known recording of composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff playing his last major orchestral work, Symphonic Dances.
A Rare Discovery: Celebrating Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances with The Philadelphia Orchestra

A wholly unexpected musical discovery was at the center of a collaboration between the Penn Libraries and The Philadelphia Orchestra, as the two institutions partnered to celebrate the only known recording of composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff playing his last major orchestral work, Symphonic Dances.
Behind the Scenes: Curators Reflect on 'Making the Renaissance Manuscript' and 'Medieval Life'

Drawing from the collections of the Penn Libraries and other area institutions, two exhibits in spring 2020 use lesser-known treasures to capture and convey elements of Renaissance culture and Medieval life.