Join Temple University Libraries on Monday, September 14, 2026, from 4:00–5:30 PM at Charles Library in Philadelphia for a public talk by internationally acclaimed artist and writer Edmund de Waal, as well as a dialog with Snøhetta, designers of Charles Library. The event will be followed by a reception from 5:30-7:00 PM. 

Known internationally for his work exploring memory, collections, archives, and the movement of objects through time, de Waal will speak about libraries and collections as spaces of inquiry, stewardship, and cultural inheritance. Drawing from his longstanding engagement with museums, archives, rare books, and collections of visual and material culture, he will reflect on how objects and images carry histories across generations, and how collections themselves contain layered voices and possibilities for interpretation.