The Penn Libraries collects contemporary works by African-American authors in all formats and genres, including genre fiction (science fiction, fantasy, detective novels, thrillers, etc.), novels, play scripts, comic books and graphic novels. Musical recordings, television shows, feature films, and documentaries by and featuring African Americans are also well represented.
One of the most popular and actively researched sub-genres today is Afrofuturism, and our collection is strong and growing.
The American Musicological Society's purpose is to advance scholarship in the various fields of music through research, learning, and teaching.
Beginning in 1945 with the acquisition of the Theodore Dreiser Papers, the Penn Libraries has maintained collecting strengths in modern American manuscripts.
At the University of Pennsylvania, holdings relating to art and architecture may be found in the Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library; the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania; the University Archives and Records Center; and in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Both the Kislak Center and the Fisher Fine Arts Library hold substantial collections of artists' books, which are available for consultation by researchers, students, and classes.
Renowned artist, writer, storyteller, children's book creator, and humanitarian Ashley Bryan created thousands of drawings, paintings, collages, and linoleum block prints over the course of his long and productive life.
The Caroline F. Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness comprises over 6,000 works by women writers, including novels, short stories, poetry, works by Native American authors, travel writings, narratives of polar expeditions, captivity narratives, and works for children.
The Chef Fritz Blank Culinary Archive and Library includes several thousand cookbooks and cookery-related books, spanning the 18th to the 21st centuries.