The Museum Library is closed from 12/21/24 to 1/20/25 due to facilities projects. Patrons will not be able to request materials or scans from the Museum Library's print collections, retrieve materials from the stacks, or pick up or return books during this time. See our Service Alerts for more information.

Overview

Collection Description

With the gift of the collection of the Temple University film scholar William F. Van Wert, donated to the Libraries by his family in 2004, the University acquired a valuable resource for the study of contemporary, avant-garde, and independent film, comprising many thousands of rare tapes, in addition to hundreds of commercial videotapes and DVDs.

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries maintain the following distinct film collections: Van Pelt general collections (closed circulation), Van Wert Collection (including the dark archive at LIBRA), Rosengarten Reserve, Ormandy Collection, Harvey Sheldon Jewish American Music Video Research Library, Fine Arts Library, University Museum Library. Additionally, some academic departments and programs have their own media collections (e.g., Cinema & Media Studies, History, Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies). Penn Libraries' DVDs and video collections are accessible via the library catalog.

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