Meet the authors as they discuss and read selected passages by attending a virtual author event via Zoom on Thursday August 20 from noon to 1 PM, hosted by the State Library of Pennsylvania! About the book: Out in Central Pennsylvania: The History of an LGBTQ Community,...

What Makes a Book Rare? By Michael Lear, Rare Collections Librarian State Library of Pennsylvania Libraries with rare or special collections may be asked: what makes a book “rare” or valuable? Probably the most often thought of factor by is that a book is old. This is sometimes...

      by Michael Lear, Rare Collections Librarian State Library of Pennsylvania Identification of photographs Identifying the type of photograph(s) that you have helps to date an image and can be key to determining the best handling and storage conditions. Some...

The State Library knows that exploring your family history is a popular pastime. African American genealogy can be tricky and may require some special advice. Join the conversation with special guest Adrienne Whaley, President of the Philadelphia African American Genealogy Group! GET...

Michael Lear joined the State Library of Pennsylvania on September 16th as the new Rare Collections Librarian. Previous to joining the State Library, Michael worked as Research and Collections Management Specialist at Franklin and Marshall College Library’s Archives and Special...

I’m very excited to announce that Sarah Greene has accepted the position of Director, Bureau of State Library (BSL) with the Office of Commonwealth Libraries (OCL).  Sarah will join our leadership team late January 2019. Greene’s Career Sarah is well-qualified for this position....