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Exterior restoration of a landmark
exterior of brick and terracotta building

The 134-year-old building on College Green will continue to be open for use throughout construction.

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Exterior restoration of a landmark

Designed by world-famous Philadelphia architect Frank Furness, the iconic Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library Building is undergoing a 20-month exterior renovation and restoration that will encase its red sandstone, terracotta, and brick exterior in scaffolding through the fall of 2026.

3 min. read

An ‘archival discovery’ about a 17th-century Shakespeare Folio
a burned Shakespeare Folio in a glass box

A the remains of a burned Shakespeare Folio in a sealed glass case is part of the Penn Libraries collection. 

(Image: Courtesy of the Penn Libraries)

An ‘archival discovery’ about a 17th-century Shakespeare Folio

In the Penn Libraries is a sealed glass box containing the charred pages of a 17th-century Folio, a collection of plays by William Shakespeare. An archival discovery by Penn faculty proves that it is from the Third Folio, not the First as it was previously identified.

3 min. read

Reimagining the Penn Libraries
Brigitte Weinsteiger sitting on a sofa in her office

Weinsteiger has been at the Penn Libraries since 2008, and in her current role since June 2024. 

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Reimagining the Penn Libraries

When Brigitte Weinsteiger became the vice provost and director of the Penn Libraries last year, she took the helm of what she characterizes as “one of the most consequential research libraries in the country.” With 19 libraries, 300-plus staff, a $95 million budget, and 10 million volumes across print and digital formats, she now leads an intellectual ecosystem that reaches across Penn’s campus and beyond.

5 min. read

From the Archives: Photograph of Penn’s first female law graduate
43 people sitting and standing on the steps of College Hall

University of Pennsylvania Law School Class of 1883 group portrait on the steps of College Hall in 1883. Caroline Burnham Kilgore, the first female graduate of Penn Law is top row, center. The photo is a gift of Peter Conn of Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences.

(Image: Broadbent and Taylor, courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records Center)

From the Archives: Photograph of Penn’s first female law graduate

A photo in the University Archives pictures 43 members of the Penn Law School graduating class of 1883 on the steps of College Hall. Among them is Caroline Burnham Kilgore, the first woman to enter the law school, to receive a law degree, and to be admitted to the Pennsylvania bar.

3 min. read

Exploring the future of the conservative movement
A group of people sits behind a table in a crowded room. A screen behind them reads: “The Future of Conservatism and the GOP in the Age of Trump.”

From left, moderator Brian Rosenwald; former Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo; RealClearPolitics senior elections analyst Sean Trende; former Democratic Pennsylvania Congressman Conor Lamb; Wall Street Journal White House reporter Meridith McGraw; and Dispatch editor Jonah Goldberg. 

(Image: Brian Hogan, Penn Libraries)

Exploring the future of the conservative movement

At a roundtable co-sponsored by several Penn institutions, analysts broke down the history of the Republican Party and what to expect moving forward.

3 min. read

Bringing children’s books to life

Bringing children’s books to life

How the Penn Libraries Community Engagement team is improving the classic “storytime” or “read-aloud” experience for elementary school students in Philadelphia.

Untangling copyright, publication, and the public domain

Untangling copyright, publication, and the public domain

According to the Copyright Act of 1909, a work enters the public domain 95 years after it was published. But what does "published" mean? Stephen Wolfson, assistant general counsel and copyright advisor at Penn Libraries explains how the question is more complicated than it seems.

From the Archives: Raymond and Sadie Alexander family home movies
Sadie and Raymond Alexander with a film projector in a room with books on bookshelves and framed photos behind them.

Penn alumni Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander and Raymond Pace Alexander in their North Philadelphia home, 1708 W. Jefferson St., in 1952, looking at some of their home movies, which are in the University Archives and Records Center.

(Image: University Archives and Records Center)

From the Archives: Raymond and Sadie Alexander family home movies

The University Archives’ Alexander Family Papers document the professional and personal lives of Penn trailblazers Raymond and Sadie Alexander, as well as some of their family members. Included are more than 100 home movies, dating from 1930 to 1961.
The psychology behind the well-being benefits of libraries
New York Public Library

Researchers from the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project at the Positive Psychology Center helped the New York Public Library analyze results of a patron survey on the well-being benefits of libraries.

(Image: Courtesy of The New York Public Library)

  • By the Numbers

    • The psychology behind the well-being benefits of libraries

    Penn’s Humanities and Human Flourishing Project at the Positive Psychology Center helped the New York Public Library contextualize results of a patron survey on well-being.