Elm Library
Elm Library and Research Center
With the recent formation of the Spiritualism and Occult Research (SOR) branch, the Elm library, research, and séance room now fall under this area of the society. SOR hopes to make the Elm library more accessible to the investigators of PRS and outside groups.
The PRS library has grown in leaps and bounds for the last ten years. The collection now has over 200 books ranging from recent authors of the occult and paranormal in the 21st century to first additions of spiritualism in the early 19th century. Originally this collection started at a mere 12 books on a shelf in a Penn State cubical at the Hub Robinson center.
In the early years of PRS, the interest in the book research aspect of the paranormal was very much present, some of the original investigators would bring books from there own personal collection to PRS as to either lend or donate. It was not until much later when PRS was moving into larger spaces outside of the Penn State campus that the collection was able to expand further.
As the library took form, it also gained the name the Elm library. This was partially because some of the beginning stages of the library were due to Eilfie Music, who is still current curator and head of the library. The Elm name was also to keep the connection PRS had in its beginnings with Penn State, since the elm trees that line the campus all the way up to the Pattee library mall are protected due to it being an endangered tree.
Since moving into the most current office, PRS has made the library not only a place of learning, but also a haven with a sitting area and a study area. PRS has also reached out to people in the community for book recommendations and donations, which has shown a positive response. The library has become the core of not only the research but also the archiving of the PRS history and cases, along with the history of the paranormal.
The future goals of the Elm is to help other fellow investigating groups create there own library collection, and to help to preserve the past. We would also like to increase our own library by another hundred books with emphasis on the rare books often referenced in the more recent books.
If you would like to make a contribution to the Elm library, you can visit our Amazon wish lit by typing in “Paranormal Research Society” in the wish list search box.
