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{{Short description|Independent research library in Washington, D.C.}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox library
| library_name = Folger Shakespeare Library
| image = Folger Reading Room.jpg
| caption = The Folger Shakespeare Library reading room with one of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s [[First Folio]]s in the foreground
| type = Private Research library<br/>Special library<ref>{{cite web |title=Folger Shakespeare Library library, Washington, USA|url=http://www.libdex.com/country/usa/district_of_columbia/washington/library_19583.html |website=Libdex}}</ref>
| scope = Early modern Europe, [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]
| established = 1932
| location = [[Washington, D.C.]]
| country = United States
| items_collected = Shakespeare-related materials, rare books, [[manuscript]]s, [[Printmaking|prints]], [[drawing]]s, [[playbill]]s, [[painting]]s
| coordinates = {{Coord|38|53|22|N|77|0|11|W|region:US-DC_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| area = 
| architect = Cret, Paul P.; Trowbridge, Alexander B. (Modern architecture)
| director = [Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper]
| website = {{official URL}}
| logo = Folger Shakespeare Library.png
}}

The '''Folger Shakespeare Library''' is an independent [[research library]] on [[Capitol Hill]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of [[William Shakespeare]], and is a primary repository for rare materials from the [[early modern period]] (1500–1750) in Britain and Europe. The library was established by [[Henry Clay Folger]] in association with his wife, [[Emily Jordan Folger]]. It opened in 1932, two years after his death.

The library offers advanced scholarly programs and national outreach to [[K–12]] classroom teachers on Shakespeare education. Other performances and events at the Folger include the award-winning Folger Theatre, which produces Shakespeare-inspired theater; Folger Consort, the early-music ensemble-in-residence; the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series; the [[PEN/Faulkner Foundation]] Reading Series; and numerous other exhibits, seminars, talks and lectures, and family programs. It also has several publications, including the Folger Library editions of Shakespeare's plays, the journal ''[[Shakespeare Quarterly]]'', the teacher resource books ''Shakespeare Set Free'', and [[Exhibition catalogue|catalogs of exhibitions]]. The Folger is also a leader in methods of [[Preservation (library and archive)|preserving]] rare materials.

The library is privately endowed and administered by the Trustees of [[Amherst College]]. The library building is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

==History==
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 | caption1 = [[Henry Clay Folger]]
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[[Standard Oil of New York]] executive [[Henry Clay Folger]], a graduate of [[Amherst College]] and [[Columbia University]], was an avid collector of [[Shakespeareana]], beginning in 1889 with the purchase of a 1685 [[Early texts of Shakespeare's works#Folio|Fourth Folio]].{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=82}} Toward the end of [[World War I]], he and his wife [[Emily Jordan Folger]] began searching for a location for a Shakespeare library based on their collection. They chose a location adjacent to the [[Library of Congress]] in Washington, D.C. The land was then occupied by townhouses, and Folger spent several years buying the separate lots. The site was designated for expansion by the Library of Congress, but in 1928, [[United States Congress|Congress]] passed a resolution allowing its use for Folger's project.<ref>Ziegler, Georgianna: "Duty and Enjoyment: The Folgers as Shakespeare Collectors in the Gilded Age", ''Shakespeare in American Life'', Virginia and Alden Vaughan (eds.). Washington, D.C.: Folger Shakespeare Library, 2007, pp. 108–109.</ref><ref>''Infinite Variety: Exploring the Folger Shakespeare Library,'' Esther Ferington (ed.). Washington, D.C.: Folger Shakespeare Library (distributed by University of Washington Press, Seattle), 2001, p. 16.</ref><ref>Also see [http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=791 "Founding the Library"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219190421/http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=791 |date=2014-12-19 }} on Folger website.</ref>

The [[cornerstone]] of the library was laid in May 1930, but Folger died soon afterward. The bulk of Folger's fortune was left in [[Charitable Trust|trust]], with Amherst College as administrator, for the library. Early members of the board included Amherst graduate and former president [[Calvin Coolidge]], second chairman of the board of trustees. Because of the [[Wall Street crash of 1929|stock market crash of 1929]], Folger's estate was smaller than he had planned, although still substantial. Emily Folger, who had worked with her husband on his collection, supplied the funds to complete the project. The library opened on April 23, 1932, the anniversary of what is believed to be Shakespeare's date of birth. Emily Folger remained involved in its administration until shortly before her death in 1936.<ref>Lynch, Kathleen, "Folger, Emily Jordan", ''American National Biography'', [[John Garraty]] and Mark Carnes (eds). New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, vol. 8, pp. 167–168.</ref><ref>''Infinite Variety,'' pp. 16–17.</ref> In 2005, the Folger Board of Governors undertook administration of the Folger under the auspices of the Amherst Board of Trustees, though the Amherst board continues to manage the Folger's budget.{{sfn|Grant|2014|pp=201–202}}

The Folger's first official reader was B. Roland Lewis, who later published ''The Shakespeare Documents: Facsimiles, Transliterations, Translations, and Commentary'' based on his research. The first fellowships were distributed in 1936.{{sfn|Grant|2014|pp=188–189}} Early Folger exhibitions featured enticing items in the collection, including [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]]'s copy of Shakespeare's works, an Elizabethan [[lute]], and [[Edwin Booth]]'s ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' costume.{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=191}} Current practices for Folger exhibitions did not begin until 1964, when the first exhibition curated on site opened.{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=197}} During the [[World War II|Second World War]], 30,000 items from the Folger collection were transported under guard to Amherst College's Converse Library, where they were stored for the duration of the war in case of an enemy attack on Washington, D.C.{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=193}}

Many of the Folger's current public events and programs began in the 1970s under the leadership of director O.B. Hardison. Under his direction, the Folger's theater was brought up to Washington, D.C. fire code, permitting performances by the Folger Theatre Group, the library's first professional company. The Folger Poetry Series also began in 1970. Hardison formed the Folger Institute, which coordinates academic programs and research at the Library. Folger Consort, the Library's early music ensemble, began performances in 1977.<ref name=Grant2014-195>{{harvnb|Grant|2014|p=195}}</ref>

The first Director of the Library, from 1940 to 1946, was [[Joseph Quincy Adams Jr.]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Spauling|first=Thomas M.|title=The Literary Society in Peace and War|year=1947|publisher=George Banta Publishing Company|location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

==Buildings and grounds==
[[File:Folger facade (Cret).jpg|Paul Philippe Cret's original designs for the east facade of the Folger Shakespeare Library, early 1930s|thumb|right|300px]]
The main Folger building was designed by architect [[Paul Philippe Cret]]. The white marble exterior includes nine street-level [[Relief|bas-reliefs]] of scenes from Shakespeare's plays created by the sculptor [[John Gregory (sculptor)|John Gregory]], an aluminum replica of a statue of [[Puck (Shakespeare)|Puck]] by [[Brenda Putnam]], as well as many inscriptions personally selected by Henry Folger. The large [[Art Deco]] window and door grilles are aluminum.

Inside, the building is designed in a [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor]] style with oak paneling and plaster ceilings. The Elizabethan Theatre lobby contains the original marble Puck statue (restored and moved indoors in 2001), and architectural painting by muralist [[Austin M. Purves Jr.]] The two reading rooms (one added in the early 1980s) are reserved for use by scholars who have obtained advance permission. Public spaces include the large exhibition gallery, a gift shop, and an [[Elizabethan theatre]].

===Architecture===
[[File:Folger Shakespeare Library (53830789502).jpg|thumb|Exterior of Folger Shakespeare Library (2024)]]
Henry Folger's search for an architect began with an acquaintance, Alexander B. Trowbridge, who had redesigned a home in [[Glen Cove, New York|Glen Cove]], Long Island, in the old English style the Folgers were eager to feature in their Library. Folger contracted Trowbridge in 1928, but Trowbridge preferred to consult, rather than be the primary architect, and so recommended French émigré Paul Phillippe Cret. Trowbridge and Cret shared a similar vision for the design of the Library—a [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] building that [[Stripped Classicism|stripped the facade of any decorative elements]]. Though the Folgers had initially desired an entirely Elizabethan building, they ultimately agreed that a neoclassical building would blend with other existing buildings on Capitol Hill. To retain an Elizabethan quality on the exterior of the building, Cret and Trowbridge proposed to decorate the facade with scenes from Shakespeare's works. Currently, the relief sculptures includes scenes from [[Henry IV, Part 1|''Henry IV'']], ''[[Hamlet]]'', ''[[Macbeth]]'', ''[[King Lear]]'', [[Julius Caesar (play)|''Julius Caesar'']], ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'', ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', [[Richard III (play)|''Richard III'']], and ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''.{{sfn|Grant|2014|pp=147–149}}

In 1959, the Folger contracted [[H2L2|Harbeson, Hough, Livingston, and Larson]], a Philadelphia firm that succeeded Cret's, to design a new wing by building over a rear parking lot. The additions also yielded a roof garden on top of the new wing.<ref>Louis B. Wright, ''Of Books and Men'' (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1976), p. 152.</ref> A second Folger building, the Haskell Center, opened in 2000 across Third Street from the original building. The nineteenth-century office building was adapted by architect Andrew K. Stevenson to house the library's education and public programs staffs.<ref name="haskell">{{cite web |title=The Haskell Center for Education and Public Programs |url=https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/The_Haskell_Center_for_Education_and_Public_Programs |publisher=Folger Shakespeare Library |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref>

The Folger currently maintains a row of townhouses on Third Street to provide housing for scholars, readers, fellows, participants in Folger Institute programs, and other visitors.

====Reading Room====
[[File:Folger's Paster Reading Room.jpg|thumb|[[Gail Kern Paster]] Reading Room]]

The Reading Room officially opened in January 1933 and today contains reference works for easy accessibility to readers. From 1977 to 1983, the Folger Shakespeare Library was renovated. Design was provided by Hartman-Cox Architects. During this renovation, it included the addition of new book stacks, renovation of office spaces, and an expansion to the Reading Room.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Folger Shakespeare Library|url = http://www.hartmancox.com/folger-shakespeare-library|website = Hartman-Cox Architects|access-date = 2016-01-12|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083044/http://www.hartmancox.com/folger-shakespeare-library|archive-date = 2016-03-04}}</ref> A second, more modern reading room dedicated as the Theodora Sedgwick Bond-[[William R. Bond|William Ross Bond]] Memorial Reading Room was completed in 1982.<ref name=Grant2014-196>{{harvnb|Grant|2014|p=196}}</ref> Upon [[Gail Kern Paster]]'s retirement as director of the Folger in 2011, the original reading room was renamed the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room.{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=203}}

Henry Folger wanted the Library's reading room to feel at once like a private home and the Great Hall of an English college. It features stained-glass windows and a large stone fireplace which has never been used. The large stained-glass window overlooking what is now the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room was designed and created by [[Nicola D'Ascenzo]], who depicted the familiar "[[Seven Ages of Man]]" soliloquy from ''[[As You Like It]]''.{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=154}}

====Elizabethan Theatre====
Initially, the Elizabethan Theatre was not intended for theatrical performance. The original model was the [[Fortune Playhouse]], and then the [[Globe Theatre]]; these models proved difficult to replicate exactly, and the Folgers ultimately decided to incorporate features from multiple theaters to give visitors a general picture of a theater during the Elizabethan era. Before Folger Theatre productions began, the Elizabethan Theatre was used for concert performances and academic lectures. The theater, which seats around 260, has no pit. Painted on the ceiling is a well-known quote from ''As You Like It'': "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=151}}

The first theatrical performance in the Elizabethan Theatre was a 1949 production of ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'' by the Amherst Masquers. The Folger Theatre Group formed in 1970 when the Elizabethan Theatre became compliant with Washington, D.C. fire safety laws. Early productions included ''Dionysus Wants You!'', which adapted ''[[The Bacchae]]'' into a rock musical, and ''[[Twelfth Night]]''.{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=194}}

====Elizabethan Garden====
At the east end of the building is an Elizabethan Garden featuring plants from Shakespeare's plays, opened in 1989 amid the four magnolias planted by Emily Jordan Folger in 1932. In 2003, several sculptures by [[Greg Wyatt]] based on Shakespeare's plays joined the Elizabethan plants in the garden.

====West garden====
Sculptor [[Brenda Putnam]] was hired in May 1930 to design a sculpture of [[Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)|Puck]] for a garden on the west side of the building. Decades of exposure weakened the statue, and after Puck's right hand was found across the street at the Library of Congress in 2000, the original piece was moved. It now sits above the entrance to the Elizabethan Theatre, and an aluminum statue replaced the original in the garden.<ref name=Grant2014-200>{{harvnb|Grant|2014|p=200}}</ref>

The west garden's lawn shrank during the 1959 additions to the library, when part of its space was paved for a new staff parking area.<ref>Wright 1976, p. 152.</ref>

{{wide image|Folger West Front.jpg|720px|An aluminum casting of [[Brenda Putnam]]'s original statue of [[Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)|Puck]] stands in the west garden of the Folger Shakespeare Library.}}

====Renovations====
The Folger Library and Theatre have undergone major renovations over the past six years, with the building being closed to daytime visitors since January 2020.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.folger.edu/visit/our-building-and-grounds/building-renovation/#updates | title=Building renovation &#124; Folger Shakespeare Library | date=14 August 2024 }}</ref> The building reopened on June 21, 2024. The renovations added a new learning lab,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.folger.edu/visit/our-building-and-grounds/#learning-lab | title=Our building and grounds &#124; Folger Shakespeare Library | date=11 October 2023 }}</ref> new exhibits, outdoor gardens featuring a new Juliet balcony, and a reimagined great hall with a cafe (Quill & Crumb).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.folger.edu/visit/folger-cafe-quill-crumb/ | title=Folger Café: Quill & Crumb &#124; Folger Shakespeare Library }}</ref>

==Library==

===Collection===
The Folger houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare-related material, from the 16th century to the present. The library is best known for its 82 copies of the 1623 [[First Folio]] (of which only 235 known copies survive)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.folger.edu/publishing-shakespeare/first-folio |title=The First Folio &#124; Folger Shakespeare Library |access-date=2018-03-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316151911/https://www.folger.edu/publishing-shakespeare/first-folio |archive-date=2018-03-16 }}</ref> and over 200 [[quarto]]s of Shakespeare's individual plays. Not restricted to Shakespeare, the Folger owns the world's third largest collection of English books printed before 1641, as well as substantial holdings of [[Continental Europe|continental]] and later English imprints.<ref>''Infinite Variety,'' p. 95.</ref><ref>See also [http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=506 "The Collection"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225231522/http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=506 |date=2007-12-25 }} on the Folger site.</ref> The collection includes a wealth of items related to performance history: 250,000 playbills, 2,000 promptbooks, costumes, recordings and props. It also holds upwards of 90,000 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures and other works of art.<ref name="folger.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.folger.edu/the-collection |title=The Collection |date=4 December 2014 |access-date=2015-07-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626071829/http://www.folger.edu/the-collection |archive-date=2015-06-26 }}</ref>

The Folger's first catalog of its collection began in 1935, when Edwin Willoughby, a scholar of [[library science]] and the First Folio, began to catalog the book collection based on [[Alfred W. Pollard]] and [[Gilbert Richard Redgrave]]'s [[English Short Title Catalogue|''Short-Title Catalogue'']]. Though Willoughby developed a unique [[Library classification|classification system]] based on the Folger's needs, in the late 1940s the Folger adopted that of the [[Library of Congress Classification|Library of Congress]].{{sfn|Grant|2014|p=189}} In 1996, Folger staff and readers were given access to Hamnet, the collection's online catalog; the site became available to the public in 2000.<ref name=Grant2014-200 /> Hamnet was retired in June 2022.<ref>[https://www.folger.edu/blogs/collation/happy-retirement-hamnet/ "Happy Retirement, Hamnet!"] by Erin Blake, June 30, 2022, Folger Shakespeare Library</ref>

====Printed books====
[[File:Folger Vault.jpg|thumb|250px|Rare books stored in the Folger's Vault]]

In all, the library collection includes more than 250,000 books, from the mid 15th century—when the [[printing press]] was invented—to the present day. In addition to its 82 [[First Folio]]s, 229 early modern quartos of [[Shakespeare's plays]] and [[William Shakespeare#poems|poems]] and 119 copies of the [[Second Folio|Second]], Third, and Fourth Folios, the Folger holds some 7,000 later editions of Shakespeare from the 18th century to present, in more than 70 different languages.<ref>"Folger Shakespeare Library", ''New Encyclopædia Britannica'', Chicago: Micropædia, 15th edition, 2007, Volume 4.</ref> Beyond its Shakespearean texts, the library's collection includes over 18,000 early English books printed before 1640 and another 29,000 printed between 1641 and 1700. The library holds 35,000 early modern books printed on the European continent, about 450 of which are [[incunabula]]. The topics of these texts vary widely, ranging across literature, politics, religion, technology, military history and tactics, medicine, and over 2,000 volumes on the Protestant [[Reformation]].<ref name="folger.edu"/>

====Manuscripts====
The Folger holds some 60,000 [[manuscript]]s (from [[Elizabeth I]] and [[John Donne]] to [[Mark Twain]] and [[Walt Whitman]]).<ref>[[Heather Wolfe|Wolfe, Heather]] (ed. and compiler), ''"The Pen's Excellencie": Treasures from the Manuscript Collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library,"'' Washington, D.C.: Folger Shakespeare Library (distributed by University of Washington Press, Seattle), 2002, p. 10 for total number; pp. 51, 151, 183, and 196 for Elizabeth I, Donne, Twain, and Whitman.</ref> These handwritten documents date from the 15th to the 21st century and cover a variety of subjects: documents related to performance history and literature, personal correspondences, wills, love letters, and other materials of daily life. Notable manuscripts include the [[Macro Manuscript|earliest known staging diagram]] in England, a list of quotations [[George Eliot]] compiled while writing ''[[Middlemarch]]'', the 18th-century Shakespeare forgeries of [[William Henry Ireland]], and the papers of legendary 18th-century actor [[David Garrick]].

The Folger hosts Early Modern Manuscripts Online (EMMO), an [[Institute of Museum and Library Services|IMLS]]-grant funded project to digitize and transcribe English manuscripts from the 16th and 17th centuries in a freely available digital collection. EMMO holds conferences, [[paleography]] classes, "transcrib-athons", and other events at the Folger and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://collation.folger.edu/2013/11/emmo-early-modern-manuscripts-online/ |title=EMMO: Early Modern Manuscripts Online |last1=Wolfe |first1=Heather |date=26 November 2013 |website=The Collation |publisher=Folger Shakespeare Library |access-date=18 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905232617/http://collation.folger.edu/2013/11/emmo-early-modern-manuscripts-online/ |archive-date=5 September 2015 }}</ref>

====Highlights of the collection====
[[File:First Folio - Folger Shakespeare Library - DSC09660.JPG|thumb|The [[First Folio]] on display at the library's museum]]
Significant items in the Folger's collection include:
* The only extant complete copy of Shakespeare's ''[[Titus Andronicus]]'' first quarto, published in 1594
* The [[False Folio]]
* The [[Macro Manuscript]], a unique source for the three early [[morality plays]]: ''[[The Castle of Perseverance]]'', ''[[Mankind (play)|Mankind]]'' and ''[[Wisdom (play)|Wisdom]]''. The manuscript also contains the earliest known staging diagram for any play in England.
* The [[Dering Manuscript]], a single-play redaction of ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]'' and ''[[Henry IV, Part 2]]'' that is the earliest known manuscript for any of Shakespeare's works.
* The [[Ashbourne portrait]], the basis of several [[Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship|Oxfordian]] arguments
* [[Henry VIII]]'s childhood copy of [[Cicero]]'s ''[[De officiis]]'', bearing an inscription in his hand, "Thys boke is myne Prynce Henry"
* The Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608, an oversized illustrated manuscript of 594 pages, depicting everything from the mundanities of daily life to biblical stories to contemporary political history
* The earliest [[Portraiture of Elizabeth I of England#The Virgin Queen|''Sieve Portrait'']] of Queen [[Elizabeth I]]
* Thirteen of [[John Donne]]'s letters detailing the personal crisis he faced upon marrying Anne More without her father's permission
* Thousands of pages of letters to and from prolific 18th-century actor [[David Garrick]]
* A large and significant collection of letters, mostly sent to the influential German Shakespeare scholar F. A. Leo (1820–1898), many of which related to the early history of the [[Deutsche Shakespeare-Gesellschaft|German Shakespeare Society]], as well as a selection of German-language documents relating to Shakespeare. This collection was organized and edited by [[Werner Habicht]].

==Research and education==
Programs for advanced scholars, faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates are provided by the Folger Institute. Programs for [[K–12]] teachers and students are provided by the Education department.

===Folger Institute===
The Folger Institute has served as the focus of scholarly research at the Folger since 1970. The Folger offers long- and short-term fellowships for advanced researchers across all disciplines, and hosts the two-week Amherst-Folger Undergraduate Fellowship program every January. The Institute holds a variety of colloquia, courses, workshops, and conferences for faculty, graduate students, and secondary educators. Scholarly programs run by the Folger Institute include the Folger Institute Consortium, a group that shares research and other resources among over 40 universities, the Center for Shakespeare Studies, which seeks depth and diversity in Shakespeare scholarship, and the Center for the History of British Political Thought, which promotes continued scholarship of three hundred years of [[British politics]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Folger Institute|url=http://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Folger_Institute|website=Folgerpedia|publisher=Folger Shakespeare Library|access-date=14 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617114749/http://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Folger_Institute|archive-date=17 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Scholarly Programs|date=28 January 2015|url=http://www.folger.edu/scholarly-programs|publisher=Folger.edu|access-date=29 July 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626081153/http://www.folger.edu/scholarly-programs|archive-date=26 June 2015}}</ref>

===Education===
Educational outreach at the Folger began in the early 1970s;<ref name=Grant2014-195/> today, the Folger Education department continues those early efforts with a variety of programs for K–12 students and teachers that emphasize an [[active learning]] approach to Shakespeare. Teachers gather at the Folger for day-long and month-long programs to work to incorporate Shakespeare and performance in the classroom.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Professional Development|url = http://www.folger.edu/professional-development|website = Folger Shakespeare Library|access-date = 2016-01-12|last = kdvorak|date = 15 December 2014|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151228060400/http://www.folger.edu/professional-development|archive-date = 2015-12-28}}</ref> The department also publishes a variety of materials for classroom use. Student programs include workshops, local residency initiatives, and a high school fellowship program during which students study Shakespeare at the Folger. The Emily Jordan Folger Children's Shakespeare Festival, founded in 1980, allows elementary students to perform every spring.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Emily Jordan Folger Children's Shakespeare Festival|url = http://www.folger.edu/emily-jordan-folger-childrens-shakespeare-festival|website = Folger Shakespeare Library|access-date = 2016-01-12|last = kdvorak|date = 19 December 2014|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160111034204/http://www.folger.edu/emily-jordan-folger-childrens-shakespeare-festival|archive-date = 2016-01-11}}</ref> The Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, founded the following year, brings students from grades 7–12 to perform half-hour collections of Shakespeare scenes in the Folger theater.<ref name=Grant2014-196/><ref>{{cite web|title=Teach & Learn|date=28 January 2015|url=http://www.folger.edu/teach-learn|publisher=Folger.edu|access-date=30 July 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812073139/http://www.folger.edu/teach-learn|archive-date=12 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Lily McKee High School Fellowship Program|date=15 December 2014|url=http://www.folger.edu/lily-mckee-high-school-fellowship-program|publisher=Folger.edu|access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref>

====Teaching Shakespeare Institute====
The Teaching Shakespeare Institute (TSI) is an intensive four-week summer study program for middle- and high-school teachers hosted annually by the Folger Shakespeare Library's Education Department, with funding from the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]].<ref name="EJ">{{cite journal|last=O'Brien|first=Peggy|author-link=Peggy O'Brien|title=What's Past...|journal=[[English Journal]]|issn=0013-8274|date=September 2009|volume=99|issue=1|pages=29–30|jstor=40503320}}</ref><ref name="NEH50" /> TSI participants work with experts to study a small number of Shakespearean plays in terms of scholarship, performance, and the classroom. 50 teachers participated in the inaugural program in 1984,<ref name="EJ" /> but the annual number is now capped at 25.<ref name="FM">{{cite journal|last1=French|first1=Esther|title=Teaching Shakespeare Institute: Thirty Years of Teaching Teachers|journal=Folger Magazine|date=Fall 2014|url=http://www.folger.edu/sites/default/files/mag2014.pdf#page=22|access-date=13 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603112930/http://www.folger.edu/sites/default/files/mag2014.pdf#page=22|archive-date=3 June 2016}}</ref> By 2015, over 775 teachers had gone through the program.<ref name="NEH50">{{cite web|title=Shakespeare Lives On|url=https://www.neh.gov/project/shakespeare-lives|website=NEH 50th Anniversary|publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)|access-date=13 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314050829/http://50.neh.gov/projects/shakespeare-lives|archive-date=14 March 2016}}</ref>

==Performances and events==
The Folger Shakespeare Library's cultural and arts programs include Folger Theatre, Folger Consort, the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series and the [[PEN/Faulkner Foundation]], as well as additional talks, screenings, lectures and exhibitions.

===Folger Theatre===
[[File:Folger Library Theater.jpg|thumb|The library's historic theatre in 1932]]
Folger Theatre performs a season of Shakespeare-inspired theater, featuring the works of Shakespeare as well as contemporary plays inspired by his works. Since its inception in 1992, Folger Theatre has staged over half of the plays in Shakespeare's [[First Folio]].<ref>[http://www.folger.edu/about-folger-theatre Folger Theatre] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625043705/http://www.folger.edu/about-folger-theatre |date=2015-06-25 }}</ref> Productions have received 135 nominations for a [[Helen Hayes Award]] and won 23, including Outstanding Resident Play for its renditions of ''[[Measure for Measure]]'' (2007), ''[[Hamlet]]'' (2011) and ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' (2013).<ref>[http://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Helen_Hayes_Awards "Helen Hayes Awards"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703135222/http://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Helen_Hayes_Awards |date=2015-07-03 }} list on Folgerpedia</ref> From 1982 to 2021, the Folger Theatre's Artistic Producer was Janet Alexander Griffin.<ref>[http://www.mdtheatreguide.com/2012/01/a-quick-5-with-janet-alexander-griffin/ "A quick 5 with Janet Alexander Griffin"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208120717/http://mdtheatreguide.com/2012/01/a-quick-5-with-janet-alexander-griffin/ |date=2015-12-08 }}</ref> In 2021, Karen Ann Daniels was named director of programming and artistic director.<ref>{{cite web |title=Karen Ann Daniels Named Folger Theatre Artistic Director |url=https://www.americantheatre.org/2021/08/30/karen-ann-daniels-named-folger-theatre-artistic-director/ |website=American Theatre |date=30 August 2021 |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref> Performances occur in the theater at the east end of the building.

===Folger Consort===
Folger Consort is the library's resident [[early music]] ensemble, founded in 1977 by its artistic directors Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall.<ref name=Grant2014-195/> The Consort performs [[medieval music]], [[Renaissance music]], and [[baroque music]] in its concert series. The Consort performs regularly at the Elizabethan Theatre, at the [[Washington National Cathedral]] and at the Music Center at [[Strathmore (Maryland)|Strathmore]]. The Consort also holds seminars, discussions, and radio broadcasts. Since 2006, Folger Consort has won Best Classical Chamber Ensemble five times at the Washington Area Music Awards.<ref>The full list of [http://www.wamadc.com/wama/the_wammies.html Wammie Winners] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705161450/http://wamadc.com/wama/the_wammies.html |date=2007-07-05 }}</ref>

===O.B. Hardison Poetry Series===
Since 1970, the Folger has hosted contemporary poets for readings, moderated conversation, and Q&As in what is now called the O.B. Hardison Poetry series, after former director of the Folger, O.B. Hardison Jr.<ref>{{Cite web|title = O.B. Hardison Poetry|url = http://www.folger.edu/poetry|website = Folger Shakespeare Library|access-date = 2016-01-12|date = 10 December 2014|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160108202639/http://www.folger.edu/poetry|archive-date = 2016-01-08}}</ref> Past poets involved in the series include [[Octavio Paz]], [[Gwendolyn Brooks]], [[Allen Ginsberg]], [[W. S. Merwin]], [[Adrienne Rich]], [[Yusef Komunyakaa]], [[James Merrill]], [[Frank Bidart]], [[Robert Pinsky]], [[Derek Walcott]], [[Hayden Carruth]], [[Rita Dove]], [[Seamus Heaney]], [[Sterling Allen Brown|Sterling Brown]], [[Denise Levertov]], [[June Jordan]], [[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]], [[Sonia Sanchez]], and [[James Dickey]]. Between 1991 and 2009, the series also awarded the [[O. B. Hardison Jr. Poetry Prize]], which was awarded by the library to a U.S. poet who has published at least one book within the last five years, has made important contributions as a teacher, and is committed to furthering the understanding of poetry.

===PEN/Faulkner===
In conjunction with the [[PEN/Faulkner Foundation]], the Folger hosts the PEN/Faulkner Reading Series, which brings contemporary authors to the Folger for public readings of fiction.<ref>[http://www.penfaulkner.org/reading-series/ penfaulkner.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618204815/http://www.penfaulkner.org/reading-series/ |date=2017-06-18 }}</ref> The Folger also hosts the annual [[PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction]] readings, which celebrate the year's finalists and winners.

==Digital resources==
The Folger offers several online tools to assist in research and scholarship, including the following:
* The Digital Image Collection (also known as "LUNA"), which provides over 80,000 images of the collection, including manuscripts, books and art. The images in the collection are available under a [[Creative Commons license]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.folger.edu/blogs/collation/free-cultural-works-come-get-your-free-cultural-works/ |title=Free cultural works! Come get your free cultural works! |last=Blake |first=Erin |date=12 August 2014 |website=The Collation |publisher=Folger Shakespeare Library |access-date=27 February 2023|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909145924/http://collation.folger.edu/2014/08/free-cultural-works-come-get-your-free-cultural-works/ |archive-date=9 September 2015 }}</ref>
* Folgerpedia, the Folger's in-house [[wiki]]; a collaboratively-edited encyclopedia providing information about the institution, the collection, and other relevant information
* "All Shakespeare's works", online editions of Shakespeare's plays and poems
* Early Modern Manuscripts Online, images of manuscripts and promotes transcribing [[Palaeography|paleography]]

==Leadership==
To date, seven directors and three acting directors have overseen Library affairs. [[Michael Witmore]], a scholar with particular interest in the digital analysis of Shakespeare's texts, became the Folger's seventh director on July 1, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet the Director|url=http://www.folger.edu/Content/About-Us/Meet-the-Director.cfm|publisher=Folger.edu|access-date=10 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115050026/http://www.folger.edu/Content/About-Us/Meet-the-Director.cfm|archive-date=15 January 2014}}</ref>

# William A. Slade (1931–1934)
# [[Joseph Quincy Adams]] (1934–1936, acting; 1936–1946, director)
# James McManaway (1946–1948, acting)
# [[Louis Booker Wright]] (1948–1968)
# Philip A. Knachel (1968–1969, acting)
# O.B. Hardison Jr. (1969–1983)
# Philip A. Knachel (1983–1984, acting)
# Werner Gundersheimer (1984–2002)
# Gail Kern Paster (2002–2011)
# [[Michael Witmore]] (2011–2024)
# Dr. Farah Karim Cooper (2024- )

==See also==
* [[Book collecting]]

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

===Cited sources===
* {{cite book |last=Grant |first=Stephen H. |year=2014 |title=Collecting Shakespeare: The Story of Henry and Emily Folger |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9781421411873 |oclc=858749273}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Folger Shakespeare Library}}
* {{official website|https://www.folger.edu/}}
* [https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/all-works/ "All Shakespeare's works"]
* [https://catalog.folger.edu/ "Folger Shakespeare Library Catalog"]
* [https://www.folger.edu/research/the-folger-institute/ Folger Institute]
* [https://emmo.folger.edu/ Early Modern Manuscripts Online]
* [https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Main_Page Folgerpedia"], the Folger Library's own wiki space
* [https://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet "LUNA, Folger Digital Image Collection"]
* {{YouTube|channel=FolgerLibrary}}

{{Amherst College}}
{{Shakespeare|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

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