Penn Libraries is an enormous enterprise with more than a dozen facilities on campus alone, as well as several commons, centers, and associated libraries.
The Libraries serve the entire Penn community with a huge print and electronic collection; early printed materials on philosophy, literature, science, and more; and access to databases that scholars can use when researching everything from biology to business. The Libraries also host exhibitions and contain numerous study and teaching spaces.
Current Vice Provost and Director of Libraries H. Carton Rogers is preparing to step down in June of 2018, so we thought the time was right to take a peek inside Penn’s sprawling library system.
7,778,224
Number of print and electronic volumes used in 2016.
109
Class sessions held in the Lea Library in 2017. This library is located on the sixth floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library and was moved in its entirety after the death of prominent Philadelphian Henry Charles Lea in 1909.
2,254,963
Total images of special collection manuscript pages posted on OPENN, as of June 30, 2017.
375
Number of student workers in the Libraries for the 2017-18 school year.
1,485,076
In-person visits to the Libraries in 2016.
3,209,396
Number of digitized manuscript pages in the Libraries’ collection. In 1990, that number was zero.
551
Class sessions held in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts from July 2016 through June 2017.
On the move: Water quality and antimicrobial resistance testing goes mobile
Penn researchers have developed a mobile field laboratory allowing them to test water quality and track antimicrobial resistance in and around San Cristóbal in the Galápagos.
Penn researchers Vanessa and Alexis North are studying one of the largest collections of Egyptian blue objects ever found in the ancient Near East, shedding new light on how the world’s first synthetic pigment may have traveled far beyond Egypt.
A new role for dental providers? Rethinking where vaccines are given
Vaccinations have traditionally been administered in primary care settings or pharmacies. However, for about a decade, some states have authorized dentists to administer vaccines, and many others did so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of this approach has led some countries and states to expand or consider expanding the role of dental providers in delivering routine vaccines, including those against COVID-19 and the human papillomavirus (HPV), and in providing vaccine education.
Penn student develops a way for computer chips to run more efficiently
Fluid Silicon, a platform from President’s Sustainability Prize winner Nhlanhla Mavuso, allows computer chips to continuously monitor their health and self-tune as their characteristics change. The technology has the potential to reduce energy usage in data centers and improve reliability in mission-critical applications.
