The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center has received a $60 million gift that will help digitize its 15 million-item archive. The library houses historic materials in the areas of theatre, dance, and music; it’s also the home of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, a large collection of filmed Broadway and Off-Broadway shows.
The anonymous $60 million donation, which is the largest in the history of the research library, will make a large-scale digitization, preservation, and cataloging project possible, enabling its rare documents, films, and manuscripts to be easily accessed online.
“The performing arts belong to everyone, and breaking down barriers to accessing these one-of-a-kind materials enriches our entire community,” added Roberta Pereira, Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of the Library for the Performing Arts. “Thanks to this historic gift, we will be able to share our archive with people locally and around the world and on their timeline—thus connecting today’s audiences, tomorrow’s artists, and lifelong learners directly to our extraordinary treasures. We are thrilled to open our doors even wider and invite everyone in.
Despite the popularity of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, Pereira told the New York Times that there are no plans to digitize those videos, citing “very complex rights conversation.”
In conjunction with expanding the digital archives, a top priority of the donor and NYPL is the preservation of fragile physical collection formats in immediate danger of permanent decay, and to offer the public access to collection items that have remained unseen for decades due to their fragile condition. The initiative will immediately target decaying still photography archives and at-risk audio and moving image holdings (including fragile lacquer discs and wax cylinders), as well as rare manuscripts, prompt books, and set models. Among the fragile items that will be targeted for immediate preservation are the original set models for Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George.
The gift comes as the Performing Arts Library is celebrating its 60th anniversary. It was also awarded the 2025 Tony Awards Honor for Excellence in Theatre.
Said the anonymous donor in a statement, “LPA is a place where actors and dancers go to prepare for roles by watching footage of the greats that came before them, where choreographers, directors, composers, and other artists go for inspiration. It’s exciting to recognize what far-reaching impact the digitization project will have, both by preserving these valuable materials for future generations and by making them accessible to anyone anywhere around the world.”