Kislak Center | Penn Libraries
Source: https://www.library.upenn.edu/kislak
Archived: 2026-04-23 15:36
Kislak Center | Penn Libraries
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Welcome to the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts!
The Kislak Center is the principal site for rare books, manuscripts, and archives at the University of Pennsylvania and a hub for events, exhibits, and research. The Kislak Center is open to all. We invite you to visit us on the sixth floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center and explore our collections.
Get Involved
Newsletter
Instagram
Blog
Events
About
Our Mission and History
Reading Room
Access Kislak Center Collections On-Site and Remotely
What We Collect
Primary Collection Areas
Research
Fellowships and Support for Researchers, Students, and Faculty
Access and Visitors
How to Find Us
Classes in the Kislak Center
Teaching and Resources for Instructors
The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies
Bringing manuscript culture, modern technology, and people together.
America 250 at Penn
Celebrate the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia
Civic Engagement
Partnerships celebrating the history, culture, and people of Philadelphia.
Judaica Digital Humanities
Creative research and development in Jewish studies, informed by digital humanities, Jewish studies, and public scholarship.
Processing the Past
A hands-on graduate-level internship course co-taught by Zita Nunes, Associate Professor of English, and Holly Mengel, Head of Archives and Manuscripts Processing at Penn Libraries, reveals the complex world of academic archiving.
Exploring the authenticity of a pair of storied gloves
Penn Libraries curator and conservator team up to research a pair of gloves rumored to have been Shakespeare’s to see if the gloves could be from the 1600s.
What Happened to Edwin Forrest’s Burned First Folio? The Power of Cataloguing and the Logic of Discovery
For
Shakespeare Quarterly
, Professor Zachary Lesser and Professor Whitney Trettien discuss the work of archivists, librarians, and scholarly discovery through the life, destruction, and afterlife of a Shakespeare Folio in the H. H. Furness Memorial Library.
Apr
23
Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Italian Book of Hours
On April 23, Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts Nick Herman will bring out Ms. Codex 688, a small, delicate book of hours from 16th century Italy.
April 23, 2026
12:00pm -
12:30pm
Online
Apr
24
Lecture
Open to the Public
Data, Diaspora, and Discovery: A Digital Reconstruction of Jewish Families in the Americas before 1900
Join this presentation by Laura Newman Eckstein to see the creative workflow that empowers digital humanities work including migration mapping and network visualization.
April 24, 2026
12:00pm -
2:00pm
Virtual (link will be sent to registrants)
Apr
28
Workshop
Open to the Public
Making [and Remaking] Texts: Past, Present, and Future
On Tuesday, April 28, from 2-4pm, come and look at some of the manuscripts held at Penn that have been cut up, remixed, rewritten, and rebound. Hear Penn experts discuss these texts, including an overview of the materials and practices through which manuscripts were made initially. Then, take a pair of scissors and cut your own from paper print-outs drawn from the OPenn repository.
April 28, 2026
2:00pm -
4:00pm
Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor
Elsa Varela
Special Collections Cataloging Librarian
evarela@upenn.edu
Julia Bonilla
Logistics and Operations Coordinator
moralesj@upenn.edu
Josef Gulka
Circulation & Stack Manager
jgulka@pobox.upenn.edu
Kelin Baldridge
Processing Archivist
Hope Jones
Project Archivist
hpjones4@upenn.edu
Sarah Heim
Public Services Librarian
seheim@upenn.edu
Barbara Kitamura
Library Specialist
kitamura@pobox.upenn.edu
Mitch Fraas
Director of Special Collections & Research Services
fraas@pobox.upenn.edu
Accessibility
The accessible entrance of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center opens into the Goldstein Undergraduate Study Center. This entrance is on the ground floor of the building facing Blanche P. Levy Park and College Hall. A wheelchair accessible doorbell is located on the railing leading toward the door.
Floor Plans
5th floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
6th floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Additional Information
Learn more about accessibility services in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Accessible Entrance
Directions to the accessible entrance:
Word
|
PDF
Maps and More
Campus Libraries Map
Staff Information
Resources for Staff
Committees
Skip to main content
Skip to site search
Skip to primary navigation
Skip to About Penn libraries menu
Chat
Phone 215-898-7555
Report Accessibility Issues
and
Get Help
Welcome to the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts!
The Kislak Center is the principal site for rare books, manuscripts, and archives at the University of Pennsylvania and a hub for events, exhibits, and research. The Kislak Center is open to all. We invite you to visit us on the sixth floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center and explore our collections.
Get Involved
Newsletter
Blog
Events
About
Our Mission and History
Reading Room
Access Kislak Center Collections On-Site and Remotely
What We Collect
Primary Collection Areas
Research
Fellowships and Support for Researchers, Students, and Faculty
Access and Visitors
How to Find Us
Classes in the Kislak Center
Teaching and Resources for Instructors
The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies
Bringing manuscript culture, modern technology, and people together.
America 250 at Penn
Celebrate the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia
Civic Engagement
Partnerships celebrating the history, culture, and people of Philadelphia.
Judaica Digital Humanities
Creative research and development in Jewish studies, informed by digital humanities, Jewish studies, and public scholarship.
Processing the Past
A hands-on graduate-level internship course co-taught by Zita Nunes, Associate Professor of English, and Holly Mengel, Head of Archives and Manuscripts Processing at Penn Libraries, reveals the complex world of academic archiving.
Exploring the authenticity of a pair of storied gloves
Penn Libraries curator and conservator team up to research a pair of gloves rumored to have been Shakespeare’s to see if the gloves could be from the 1600s.
What Happened to Edwin Forrest’s Burned First Folio? The Power of Cataloguing and the Logic of Discovery
For
Shakespeare Quarterly
, Professor Zachary Lesser and Professor Whitney Trettien discuss the work of archivists, librarians, and scholarly discovery through the life, destruction, and afterlife of a Shakespeare Folio in the H. H. Furness Memorial Library.
Apr
23
Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Italian Book of Hours
On April 23, Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts Nick Herman will bring out Ms. Codex 688, a small, delicate book of hours from 16th century Italy.
April 23, 2026
12:00pm -
12:30pm
Online
Apr
24
Lecture
Open to the Public
Data, Diaspora, and Discovery: A Digital Reconstruction of Jewish Families in the Americas before 1900
Join this presentation by Laura Newman Eckstein to see the creative workflow that empowers digital humanities work including migration mapping and network visualization.
April 24, 2026
12:00pm -
2:00pm
Virtual (link will be sent to registrants)
Apr
28
Workshop
Open to the Public
Making [and Remaking] Texts: Past, Present, and Future
On Tuesday, April 28, from 2-4pm, come and look at some of the manuscripts held at Penn that have been cut up, remixed, rewritten, and rebound. Hear Penn experts discuss these texts, including an overview of the materials and practices through which manuscripts were made initially. Then, take a pair of scissors and cut your own from paper print-outs drawn from the OPenn repository.
April 28, 2026
2:00pm -
4:00pm
Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor
Elsa Varela
Special Collections Cataloging Librarian
evarela@upenn.edu
Julia Bonilla
Logistics and Operations Coordinator
moralesj@upenn.edu
Josef Gulka
Circulation & Stack Manager
jgulka@pobox.upenn.edu
Kelin Baldridge
Processing Archivist
Hope Jones
Project Archivist
hpjones4@upenn.edu
Sarah Heim
Public Services Librarian
seheim@upenn.edu
Barbara Kitamura
Library Specialist
kitamura@pobox.upenn.edu
Mitch Fraas
Director of Special Collections & Research Services
fraas@pobox.upenn.edu
Accessibility
The accessible entrance of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center opens into the Goldstein Undergraduate Study Center. This entrance is on the ground floor of the building facing Blanche P. Levy Park and College Hall. A wheelchair accessible doorbell is located on the railing leading toward the door.
Floor Plans
5th floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
6th floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Additional Information
Learn more about accessibility services in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Accessible Entrance
Directions to the accessible entrance:
Word
|
Maps and More
Campus Libraries Map
Staff Information
Resources for Staff
Committees