Theatre Collection
| Sunday, 4/13 | Closed |
| Monday, 4/14 | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday, 4/15 | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday, 4/16 | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Thursday, 4/17 |
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. * |
| Friday, 4/18 |
Closed * |
| Saturday, 4/19 | Closed |
- * Thursday has hour changes – preparation for the Good Friday holiday
- * Friday has hour changes – Good Friday
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Friday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Closed |
Upcoming Closures
- Thu., Apr. 17 : Closing at 1:00 PM preparation for the Good Friday holiday
- Fri., Apr. 18 : Closed Good Friday
- Sun., Apr. 20 : Closed Easter
- Mon., May. 26 : Closed Memorial Day
Upcoming Events
Rare Books Roadshow
Tue, April 15, 2025
11:00 A.M.
This event has already happened.
While construction continues on Parkway Central Library's third floor, join staff from the Rare Book Department , Theatre Collection , and Children's Literature Research Collection for a daily pop-up event highlighting select materials. This pop-up event will take place…
Rare Books Roadshow
Wed, April 16, 2025
11:00 A.M.
While construction continues on Parkway Central Library's third floor, join staff from the Rare Book Department , Theatre Collection , and Children's Literature Research Collection for a daily pop-up event highlighting select materials. This pop-up event will take place…
Rare Books Roadshow
Thu, April 17, 2025
11:00 A.M.
While construction continues on Parkway Central Library's third floor, join staff from the Rare Book Department , Theatre Collection , and Children's Literature Research Collection for a daily pop-up event highlighting select materials. This pop-up event will take place…
Rare Books Roadshow
Mon, April 21, 2025
11:00 A.M.
While construction continues on Parkway Central Library's third floor, join staff from the Rare Book Department , Theatre Collection , and Children's Literature Research Collection for a daily pop-up event highlighting select materials. This pop-up event will take place…
*** During the Free Library's closure, visit our Digital Repository to find games, activities, and more relating to Special Collections. ***
Housed in the Rare Book Department, the Theatre Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia is a research collection of materials on theatre and other forms of entertainment with a special focus on Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. It contains well over a million items, not only about theatre, but also about film, television, radio, the circus, minstrels, vaudeville, and burlesque. In addition to traditional books and magazines, myriad types of archival material are represented, including programs, playbills, theatrical scrapbooks, posters, lithographs, newspaper clippings, lobby cards, reviews, pictures of productions and film stills.
Digitized Collections
Many examples from our collections are available through our Digital Collections, including film materials from the Lubin Film Manufacturing Company and the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company as well as lobby cards; the 19th Century Playbill Collection; and our radio broadcasting materials. Many collections have not been digitized, and some collections have only been digitized in part.
If you're interested in reproducing an image from our Digital Collections, please email us at reproductions@freelibrary.org.