Penn Libraries joins Google Books Library Project

The Penn Libraries has joined the Google Books Library Project, a global partnership of 70 leading libraries working to make books, journals, and other printed library materials available to readers and researchers worldwide. Since its launch in 2004, the project has digitized over 40 million volumes in more than 500 languages, bringing distinctive collections — many otherwise accessible only in physical form — to a global audience.  

The Penn Libraries' initial planned contribution to the project includes more than 350,000 unique items that are not available through other libraries.  

“Libraries exist not only to preserve knowledge, but to share it. By digitizing materials that once were accessible only in print, we are expanding access to Penn’s collections around the world,” says Brigitte Weinsteiger, H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of the Penn Libraries. “Our partnership with Google Books makes it easier for scholars, students, and curious readers everywhere to discover and engage with trusted knowledge throughout their lives.” 

Participation in the Google Books initiative enables the Penn Libraries to advance a number of strategic goals. Preserving materials through high-quality digital surrogates ensures the longevity and integrity of scholarly and cultural assets. The project also enhances the accessibility and utility of library collections, providing searchable, machine-readable content that supports scholarship and enriches teaching. 

In fall 2025, the Penn Libraries finalized a formal agreement with Google, then began the collaborative process of identifying items to be digitized.  

The 350,000 items that the Penn Libraries and Google selected for scanning include many historical titles connected specifically to the Penn community and the Philadelphia region; for example: a Penn handbook from 1920; a volume of paintings from the Gimbel Pennsylvania Art Collection, exhibited at Penn in 1959; and a 1928 edition of "Gray Squirrel," the classic conservation-themed children's book by Joseph Wharton Lippincott, grandson of the respective founders of the Philadelphia publisher J.B. Lippincott Company and the Wharton School.  

Additional titles range in topic from arts and humanities to history, science, and medicine. They include "Ghost of an Idea," a play by Amelia Sanford published in 1914; "Sword and Pen," a biographical narrative that chronicles the life of American Civil War solider Willard Glazier by John Algernon Owens; an 1829 edition of "Euclid's Elements of Geometry;" and an 1868 edition of "Practical Anatomy," the guide to dissection for medical students by D. Hayes Agnew. 

Earlier this month, Penn Libraries staff began pulling materials from LIBRA, the Penn Libraries Research Annex in West Deptford, New Jersey, for shipment to a Google scanning center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Once Penn Libraries items are digitized by Google, they will be made available through Google Books, the HathiTrust repository, and the Penn Libraries catalog. The initial batch of 350,000 items is expected to be available by fall 2028. Additional shipments and scanning will be ongoing. 

An internal task force at Penn is overseeing every aspect of the project, from rights review and preservation workflows to metadata quality and communications. Claire DeMarco, Associate Vice Provost for Operations, is the taskforce sponsor; Katia Strieck, Goldstein Director of the Information Processing Center and Library Research Annex, is team lead.  

About Google Books 

Launched in 2004, the Google Books initiative engages publishers, authors, and libraries in building what is now the largest searchable index of full-text books worldwide. Initial library partners included Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Oxford, and the New York Public Library. Today, partners comprise libraries at U.S. and international research institutions, including the University of California, the University of Michigan, University of Lausanne, and the National Library of Catalonia, among others. “Google Books was launched over 20 years ago, with the ambition to make all books from around the world digitally available and searchable for everyone. We are pleased the Penn Libraries supports this great ambition,” said Steve McVay, the lead of the Google Books Library Project. 

Featured image: Christopher Sayers, a member of the Google Books Library Project team at the Penn Libraries, pictured at LIBRA, the Penn Libraries Research Annex.