Top Funding for Librarians and Staff Great library collections do not accumulate by themselves, care for themselves, or make themselves available and accessible to users. A highly-trained staff is necessary to select, organize, preserve, and make printed, manuscript, and electronic resources usable for Academy staff and other scholars today and in the future. The Library is seeking funds to support and expand current staff positions, to maintain salaries at a competitive level, and to endow three key positions-those of Library Director, Curator of Special Collections, and Information Services Librarian. Substantial gifts will enable donors to name these endowed positions. The Academy Library is renowned for its collection of early literature concerning the natural sciences, and collects current materials that help meet the information needs of the scientific community.
Few institutions can boast of such a helpful library staff.
It is often necessary for specialists to go back to these original descriptions in the course of their research. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia is in my opinion the best natural history library in the United States for taxonomic literature. Much of the Library's original book collection was donated by William Maclure, a founder of the Academy and its second President from 1817 to his death in 1840. As they toured Europe, each purchased hundreds of important works in the natural sciences, then shipped them back to the Academy. Dozens of other benefactors have also made notable donations over the years.