The Posner Center for Special Collections
Location
About
The Posner Center is home to Carnegie Mellon University’s Special Collections. Part museum and part laboratory for the humanities, it is CMU’s destination for discovery, research, and hands-on engagement with the past. For information on scheduling a class visit or research appointment, please visit CMU Libraries Special Collections.
The Posner Center has been newly renovated and is now open to the campus community and the public. Read more about the Posner Center renovation.
Hours
During university holidays and periods when classes are not in session, the Posner Center operates by appointment only. Public open hours resume the first full week of each semester; pre-scheduled programs and public events may still occur during appointment-only periods.
Contact Sam Lemley (samlemley@cmu.edu) to schedule a research appointment or class visit.
Staff & Faculty
Special Collections partners with departments across CMU to integrate rare materials into teaching and research.
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Catherine Blauvelt
Special Collections Coordinator
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Samuel Lemley
Curator of Special Collections
Upcoming Events
22 January 2026 · 4:00–5:00 PM (Online)
FINE & RARE VI — RARE BOOKS & ANCESTRAL MACHINES
Join us for an inside look at the Posner Center’s collections, its inaugural exhibition, and the future of research and teaching in this newly renovated space. In this installment of Fine & Rare, Curator of Special Collections Sam Lemley introduces Rare Books & Ancestral Machines, an exhibition featuring more than thirty rare books, instruments, and early computing devices—many on public view for the first time. Organized into five thematic sections — mechanical computing, robotics, cryptography, artificial intelligence, and scholarly method — the exhibition surveys over four centuries of scientific inquiry, uncovering abandoned prototypes and long-forgotten technologies.
28 January 2026 · 4:30–6:30 PM
OPEN STACKS — SECRETS & CIPHERS
Explore the hidden history of codes and codebreaking. From Renaissance cipher discs to World War II Enigma machines, discover books and artifacts that reveal how humans have disguised — and deciphered — secret messages for centuries. All are welcome. Snacks & fun provided.
25 March 2026 · 4:30–6:30 PM
OPEN STACKS — BOTANICAL ART & ENLIGHTENMENT
Discover how artists and scientists collaborated to depict, study, and classify the natural world during the Enlightenment. Rare botanical works will be on view, highlighting the intersections of art and science.
28 April 2026 · 4:30–6:30 PM
2026 SHAKESPEARE LECTURE - SIMON ARMITAGE
United Kingdom Poet Laureate Simon Armitage presents a talk on Shakespeare in a special event cosponsored by CMU Libraries and the International Poetry Forum. CMU’s copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays (1623) will be on display at the event.