The Gotham Book Mart was a vital bookstore in the New York literary scene from its creation in 1920 to its closing in 2006. In 2008, after the closure of the bookstore, the Penn Libraries received the remaining stock of books, along with papers and other items from this landmark institution.
Penn Libraries has a substantive Indo-Caribbean collection that strives to reveal histories, communities, and cultural expressions that have remained underrepresented in most research libraries.
The Naval Collection focuses on the Meiji through early Shōwa periods, and is especially strong in materials related to the training fleet (renshū kantai 練習艦隊).
Penn Libraries has developed its coverage of 20th century Spanish history and literature in recent (since the early 21st century) years. A basis for the collections is the Paul C. Smith endowment, which aims to provide general support for printed works of Spanish and Portuguese literature and culture. Paul Smith’s donations have particularly increased holdings of works by and about (many of them by Smith himself) the early 20th century political journalist and novelist Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. The library has added to these, works that explore the connections among art, literature, politics and culture. At the same time, courses in the history of Spain, including the Spanish Civil War, have encouraged collecting on the war, the Republican exile, Francoist Spain and the transition.