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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Angelina Crowe
Metadata Specialist
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Samuel Lemley
Curator of Special Collections
Director of the Posner Center for Special Collections -
Jon McIntire
Project Metadata Specialist
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Ann Marie Mesco
Digitization Projects Manager | Data Deposit Coordinator
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Joseph Mesco
Digitization Technician
Current Exhibits
RARE BOOKS & ANCESTRAL MACHINES
Rare Books & Ancestral Machines features more than thirty books and objects from the Center’s holdings. Many of these materials are on view for the first time. The exhibition inaugurates the newly renovated Center, surveying its collections and tracing more than four centuries of scientific inquiry and learning. Read more.
Upcoming Events
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.