Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts
The material collections housed at the Kislak Center include more than 350,000 books and 15,000 linear feet of manuscripts in a wide range of disciplines and formats, from medieval manuscripts to twenty-first century artists' books.
Located on the 6th floor and parts of the 5th floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, the Kislak Center’s recently renovated, award-winning facilities provide a variety of opportunities for learning and research. The material collections housed at the Kislak Center include more than 350,000 books and 15,000 linear feet of manuscripts in a wide range of disciplines and formats, from medieval manuscripts to twenty-first century artists’ books. The Kislak Center also organizes and hosts exhibits, workshops, lectures and other events.
All readers are welcome to consult special collections materials in the Kislak Center reading room and the Library at the Katz Center during regular hours. The reading rooms can accommodate twenty at a time, in addition to small groups in each of three study rooms. Five Kislak Center classrooms also provide a space for students to interact with original editions of the works they have been studying and to learn how earlier generations encountered those same books, documents, manuscripts, or codices.
Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, Sixth floor
3420 Walnut Street
Philadelphia PA 19104
facing college green
Phone: 215-898-7088
Email: kislak@pobox.upenn.edu