The Posner Center for Special Collections
Location
About
The Posner Center is home to Carnegie Mellon University’s Special Collections. Part museum and part laboratory for the humanities, it is CMU’s destination for discovery, research, and hands-on engagement with the past. For information on scheduling a class visit or research appointment, please visit CMU Libraries Special Collections.
The Posner Center is currently under construction and is scheduled to reopen in November, 2025. Read more about the Posner Center renovation.
Hours
During university holidays and periods when classes are not in session, the Posner Center operates by appointment only. Public open hours resume the first full week of each semester; pre-scheduled programs and public events may still occur during appointment-only periods.
Contact Sam Lemley (samlemley@cmu.edu) to schedule a research appointment or class visit.
Staff & Faculty
Special Collections partners with departments across CMU to integrate rare materials into teaching and research.
Upcoming Events
2 December 2025
Exhibition Opens — Rare Books & Ancestral Machines
The Inaugural Exhibition of the Posner Center for Special Collections
In celebration of the Posner Center’s reopening, this exhibition brings together rare books, artifacts, and early computing devices—many on display for the first time. Thematic sections trace five centuries of scientific inquiry, cryptography, mechanical computation, robotics, and machine intelligence.
3 December 2025 · 4:30–6:30 PM
Open Stacks — Ancestral Machines: From Renaissance Automata & Japanese Karakuri to AI
Explore the prehistory of robotics and AI through rare books and artifacts, from Renaissance automata to enlightenment theories of mind. All are welcome. Snacks & fun provided.