Penn Libraries has received $4.25 million — the largest gift ever from a living donor — to go toward the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
The donor, who is a member of the Libraries’ Board of Overseers, wished to remain anonymous because “the key point is that the gift is not about him, but about the libraries,” according to Director of Development and External Affairs for Penn Libraries Tina Cowan.
The gift, in addition to other donations, will be used to turn the sixth floor of Van Pelt — where the Rare Book and Manuscript Library is housed — into a Special Collections Center that creates a more functional and user-friendly environment, Assistant Director of Management Information Services and Communication for Penn Libraries Joseph Zucca said.
Renovations will begin this summer some of which include the reconstruction of the reading room and the creation of a large communal space for lectures and events.
Large bay windows to the south will also reveal a “dramatic view of the center of campus,” according to Zucca.
“The Rare Book and Manuscript Library contains some of the most critical material we own. There are incredible riches in terms of manuscripts and books in this library dating from the Middle Ages and beyond,” Zucca said.
“However, that space right now is not terribly functional,” he added.
The collection includes 800 medieval manuscripts and 250,000 books, as well as the recent addition of famous author Chaim Potok’s papers.
“Students will now have a place where they can physically experience the past as part of their preparation for the future,” Penn President Amy Gutmann said in a press release. “We are thrilled and enormously grateful.”
