Public Lecture by Dan Lipcan: Tracksuits and Gatorade: Warming Up the Museum Library and Archive

Name: Public Lecture by Dan Lipcan: Tracksuits and Gatorade: Warming Up the Museum Library and Archive
Start: February 4, 2020
End: February 4, 2020
Location: Salem State University History Department

Improve listing Presented by Salem State University History Department

Dan Lipcan with researchers at the Phillips Library

Salem State University's Public History Speakers Series will host its first event of 2020 on February 4, 2020.

Dan Lipcan, the new Head Librarian at the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, joins us to share his observations from his first eight months on the job and how the library is “warming up” for its next phase. He will discuss ongoing, new, and upcoming initiatives at the library to contextualize the synergies between museum, library and archival collections; the tension between preservation and access; the ways heritage and art institutions can collaborate creatively around shared strategic visions; and how research and storytelling can enliven the library and strengthen connections to its communities.

The Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum is free and open to visitors, of all ages and levels of interest, six days per week from Monday to Saturday. (You may have heard that the library and reading room moved to Rowley in 2018.) Its collection includes several hundred thousand printed volumes, over a linear mile of manuscript collections, logbooks, account books, diaries, printed ephemera, photo albums, and broadsides. Its strengths in Maritime, Asian, Native American, and many other areas of artistic pursuit are complemented by extensive holdings on the art, architecture, history, genealogy, and culture of Essex County and New England.

Lipcan, a Cape Cod native, holds a BA in Studio Art (Printmaking) from Allegheny College and an MLS from Queens College-CUNY. His past experience includes time as a professional lithographer, running backstage props Off-Broadway, and sixteen years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Thomas J. Watson Library. Fortunately for everyone in attendance, he will not be wearing a tracksuit.

This event is co-sponsored by the SSU Graduate School and the Center for Research and Creative Activities. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Margo Shea at mshea@salemstate.edu or 978-542-2610.