Libraries | Penn Today

The Declaration of Independence at the National Archives

Connecting with America’s 250th anniversary

Ahead of the main event on July 4, 2026, marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Penn students, faculty, and staff will have multiple early opportunities to engage with America’s 250th anniversary.

3 min. read

Edward Humes accepts Penn Libraries Book Prize in Sustainability

Edward Humes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, visited Penn last month to accept the Penn Libraries Book Prize in Sustainability for his book “Total Garbage: How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World.”

Bequest to the Penn Libraries names humanities librarian, supports public school library initiatives and history acquisitions

The Penn Library’s $3 million gift from the late Steven A. Lipman will endow a staff position, the Steven A. Lipman Librarian and Coordinating Bibliographer for the Humanities; the Steven A. Lipman Fund for Truth and Democracy, and the Steven A. Lipman Fund for Community Engagement, which will support the Penn Libraries’ work in Philadelphia public schools.

$21M legacy gift supports Penn Arts & Sciences’ Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, the Penn Libraries, and Morris Arboretum & Gardens

The donor, alumna Louise Strauss, was a member of the Katz Center’s board of advisors and was dedicated to volunteer work and philanthropy.

3 min. read

Brian Vivier amidst the stacks at Penn Libraries.

Who, What, Why

Who, What, Why: Brian Vivier leads Global Collections at Penn Libraries

As director of the Zilberman Family Center for Global Collections, Vivier talks about work at the Libraries that “fuels where the next ideas come from.”

2 min. read

Sarah Reidell in the Libraries Conservation Lab.

Penn Libraries’ collection conservation director

Sarah Reidell is now in her 10th year as head of the Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory at the Penn Libraries, leading a team of five technicians in caring for the millions of physical objects in the collection

5 min. read

Mapping change: Student research projects supported by Penn Libraries resources

With their StoryMaps projects, Penn students explore the history of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods utilizing both cutting-edge tools and historical primary sources provided by the Penn Libraries.

The Social History Archive: British Newspaper Archive

In June, the Penn Libraries became one of the first libraries in North America to buy The Social History Archive, a product that includes a database of the British Library's extensive collection of digitized newspapers.

18th century printed broadside written by Benjamin Franklin and William Hunter.

250 years in the making, Penn Libraries’ postal archives

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States Post Office, Penn Today highlights postal-related items in the Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center for Special Collections.

4 min. read

Library research in action: Wandering the stacks with Mengliu Cheng

The history doctoral student is working on a dissertation about agricultural science in modern China with the help of Penn Libraries’ Zilberman Family Center for Global Collections.