Paul Farber, Penn alum and head of Rosengarten Reserve at Van Pelt Library, dies at 78

Paul Farber, a 1967 College graduate and former head of the Rosengarten Reserve at Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, has died at the age of 78. 

Farber graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Penn and was hired at Van Pelt in 1974. Over the next two decades, he came to head the Rosengarten Reserve in the 1990s, a position he held until his retirement in 2012. He died of pancreatic cancer and renal failure at Pennsylvania Hospital on Aug. 29. 

During his time at Penn, Farber supervised library staff and managed the library's lending schedules. Farber's efforts helped thousands of Penn students find resources for their courses through Rosengarten's reserve system. 

Farber dedicated himself to the humanities outside of Penn as well. He was a classical pianist and an avid supporter of the arts. He often spent his free time at the Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Philadelphia Museum of Art. As a Penn student, he was involved in the Philomathean Society, the University's literary society and oldest student group. 

“He appreciated the humanities and arts, and libraries are hotbeds of that,” his son, Noah Farber, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He had the heart of a collector, and all those books and things were a tangible aspect of that wealth of knowledge.”

Farber had deep connections to the city as a Philadelphia native. He was born on May 3, 1946, graduated from Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 1963, and lived in West Philadelphia for much of his adult life with his wife Michaela Farber.

“He cared a lot about the people he cared about," his daughter Carly told the Inquirer. 

Farber is survived by his two children, as well as his granddaughter and other relatives. The family held a service on Sept. 11 to honor Farber’s memory.