National Endowment for the Humanities at

Princeton Public Library

Princeton Public Library is committed to sustaining and growing humanities programs and projects to enrich the lives of our patrons through thought-provoking public programs, collections development, and broader access to all things humanities related. Humanities programs at the library support the library’s mission to engage, inspire, educate, and unite everyone in our community, connecting people through words and ideas to enrich their lives.

About

The Humanities at Princeton Public Library

The driving force behind humanities programs at the library is a Challenge Grant received in 2007 from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The endowment created through the grant and local fundraising efforts provides funding for humanities programs, collections development, and other projects now and into the future.

Princeton Public Library Humanities Advisory Group

This group of volunteers advises the library and helps guide and evaluate humanities-based programs and projects. This group includes scholars, practitioners, educators, and community members who help build and maintain relationships between the library and local institutions, offer suggestions for community partnerships, and provide ideas and feedback on programs and projects.

What are the humanities?

The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study and interpretation of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.

National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, 1965, as amended

Annual Summaries

The Challenge Grant from the NEH makes all these things possible

Collections Development

Both print and digital collections are continually enhanced to keep up with new releases and to build collections on specific themes.

Voices of Princeton

The goal of the project is to collect, share, and archive stories and memories of Princetonians. Voices of Princeton is a collaborative oral history project between the Princeton Public Library, the Historical Society of Princeton, the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, and the Arts Council of Princeton.

Museum Pass Program

This program provides cardholders with free access to 21 local and regional cultural destinations.

Kanopy

Kanopy provides access our new video streaming service which offers a broad selection of quality documentaries, feature films and training videos from producers including The Criterion Channel, The Great Courses, PBS, Music Box Films, Kino Lorber, First Run Features, BBC, and many more.

Access Video on Demand

Access Video on Demand is an online digital video delivery service that allows you to view streaming videos from Films Media Group anytime, anywhere, 24/7. Choose from more than 6,500 educational titles in many subject areas relating to the humanities and social sciences.