Spirit of discovery: Greg Prickman on what makes the Folger’s exhibition halls unique

As we near the end of 2025, we want to share with our audiences a first glimpse at ideas for the upcoming year from a few members of the Folger’s leadership team. As we reflect on the past 18 months — including the completion of our renovations, reopening, and re-imagining how the Folger connects people to Shakespeare — we are excited about the possibilities ahead of us.

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Greg Prickman, Eric Weinmann Librarian and Director of Collections and Exhibitions, looks back upon the first year of the Folger’s new dedicated exhibition halls, what the exhibitions team has learned, and how he plans to offer avenues for discovery in upcoming exhibitions. 

More than 200,000 visitors have been welcomed into the Folger since June 2024, following a major multi-year renovation. “The best thing about the Folger is that it’s always alive with possibility,” says Greg Prickman, Eric Weinmann Librarian and Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Folger, about the last 18 months at the Folger. “There’s always something new to discover.”

That spirit of discovery informs exhibitions planning. Reflecting on the initial design, Prickman again highlights the possibilities: “It all started as two rectangles on a floor plan. To imagine what those spaces could become—what people would see, how they’d move, what they’d learn—was such a rewarding process. Now, to see visitors exploring those spaces, making connections, and getting excited—that’s the best possible outcome.”

Making Shakespeare accessible to all

The Folger’s two new exhibition halls have presented a variety of topics and objects in the last year, from items related to Shakespeare’s works and legacy in the permanent Shakespeare Exhibition Hall to temporary exhibitions in the Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book and Manuscript Exhibition Hall.

These temporary exhibitions have focused on the Roses’ personal and unparalleled rare book collection, Tudor rules for power, early modern book artist Esther Inglis’s intricate book covers and illustrations, 18th-century paintings depicting famous scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, and more.

All the exhibitions and items bring together the work the Folger does: to make Shakespeare and his world accessible to all, while demonstrating the usefulness of Shakespeare, literature, and the humanities to life in the 21st century.

Prickman’s philosophy as a librarian balances two essential, and sometimes competing, goals: preservation and access. “There’s tension between trying to take care of something and trying to make sure people can use it,” he says. “We want to preserve this material so that it’s available far beyond our lifetimes, while also making sure that in our own lifetimes, people actually get to see it and use it.” That balance, he believes, is at the heart of what makes the Folger special, both for the collections consulted by registered readers and in the exhibition halls enjoyed by anyone visiting the Folger.

The very best of the Folger

Looking ahead, Prickman’s plans for future Folger exhibitions focus on creating dynamic, engaging experiences in the lead-up to the cultural organization’s centennial. The purpose-built exhibition spaces afford the Folger with the ability to be flexible and creative with exhibitions in a way that was not possible before the renovation. He envisions opportunities to spotlight the Folger’s most iconic collection items—the unique treasures that define its place among the world’s great libraries. (But, he’s not going to spoil any surprises yet!) “What I can share—no spoilers—is that we are going to be able to show visitors really interesting aspects of our collection, and after a year of having our galleries open, we are going to keep developing how to make the experiences even better. I’m excited to see the evolution of what we do, how our spaces work, and what we can share with others.”

This vision of stewardship, accessibility, curiosity, and utility reflects the same goals that Henry and Emily Folger had when they began collecting over a century ago: the belief that bringing rare materials together can generate new knowledge. “They weren’t collecting for status or wealth, or just for the sake of collecting,” Prickman explains. “They believed that by bringing these materials together, they could create a place that would lead to new knowledge. Their belief that the Folger should always be a space for discovery still guides us.”