1954
Trustees of Amherst College pass a resolution emphasizing the Folger's traditional policy "granting permission to any qualified scholar to use the rare materials in its possession."
1958
Publication of Dorothy E. Mason's Music in Elizabethan England, the first of the Folger Booklets on Tudor and Stuart Civilization, a series designed to provide concise information on the social and intellectual history of the Tudor and Stuart periods. The booklet series continues until 1971.
1959
First large-scale renovation of the building begins, adding office space, new underground storage, and a terrace.
1960
University and high-school teachers meet at a Folger conference to discuss new methods of teaching Shakespeare.
General Reader’s Shakespeare paperback editions debut, starting with Richard III, King Lear, As You Like It, and Henry V. Edited by director Louis B. Wright and Virginia LaMar, these accessible annotated editions of the plays and sonnets use materials from the Folger's collection to put Shakespeare's works in context. The series continues through 1969.
