Education

The Digital Public Library of America is involved in a number of different initiatives to bring partner content to classrooms in K-12 and higher education. To follow the progress of DPLA’s education projects, sign up for education announcements on our education news list or email us at [email protected]. If you are having trouble accessing dp.la from your school, please let us know.

Education Research

In 2014-2015, with funding from the Whiting Foundation, DPLA learned about education work going on at other cultural heritage institutions and led teacher focus groups to determine what teachers and students might use our project to achieve.  In April 2015, we wrote and released findings from this research project that included a plan for our own future education work. Read our research findings.

Primary Source Sets

DPLA’s Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop critical thinking skills by exploring topics in history, literature, and culture through primary sources. Drawing online materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, the sets use letters, photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, sheet music, and more. Each set includes a topic overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. The sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA’s Education Advisory Committee.  View the sets.

Education Advisory Committee

As part of our Primary Source Sets project, DPLA selected an Education Advisory Committee of ten teachers in grades 6-14 to help us develop a set template and write and review sets. These group has been instrumental to the success of our project. Read more…

National History Day

DPLA provides an excellent research resource for students working on National History Day projects in any state. Read more…

Education Collaborations

In addition to building education resources internally, DPLA is also collaborating with other organizations to share content with teachers and students.  Read more…

Education Outreach Materials

As DPLA grows its education program, we want to encourage advocates to share information about it with teachers and students. We are making presentations and flyers available for use by anyone interested in spreading the word about DPLA to an education audience. Read more…


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Teagle Foundation Announces New Grant Supporting Education at DPLA
December 5, 2016

Teagle Foundation Announces New Grant Supporting Education at DPLA

The Digital Public Library of America is delighted to announce that it has received a generous $150,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation to extend its work around curated sets of primary source materials for the classroom.

Back to School at DPLA
August 31, 2016

Back to School at DPLA

‘Tis Back-to-School season and here at DPLA, we are eager and excited to dive into another year of innovative teaching and learning with a great lineup of new resources to use in your classroom this year.

DPLA Joins Teaching with Primary Sources Unconference at SAA
June 13, 2016

DPLA Joins Teaching with Primary Sources Unconference at SAA

We are pleased to announce that DPLA will be participating in the second annual Teaching with Primary Sources Unconference and Workshops will be held this summer in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library system.

Primary Source Sets for Education Now Accessible in PBS LearningMedia
June 1, 2016

Primary Source Sets for Education Now Accessible in PBS LearningMedia

We are thrilled to announce that all of our 100 Primary Source Sets for education are now accessible in PBS LearningMedia, a leading destination for high-quality, trusted digital education resources that inspire students and transform learning.

Perspectives from DPLAfest: Ebooks, Education and Building our Hubs
April 29, 2016

Perspectives from DPLAfest: Ebooks, Education and Building our Hubs

With DPLAfest 2016 larger than ever, we reached out to a few attendees ahead of the event to help us capture the (many) diverse experiences of fest participants. These ‘special correspondents’ have graciously volunteered to share their personal perspectives on the fest. In this first of two guest posts by our special correspondents, Sara Stephenson, Kerry Dunne, and Emily Pfotenhauer reflect on their fest experiences from the perspectives of their fields and interests: education, ebooks, and the growing DPLA hub network.

100 Primary Source Sets for Education Now Available
April 11, 2016

100 Primary Source Sets for Education Now Available

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is very pleased to announce the release of its third group of Primary Source Sets about topics in US history, literature, and culture, along with new features for navigating our growing project.

New Primary Source Sets for Education Published
January 20, 2016

New Primary Source Sets for Education Published

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is very pleased to announce the release of its second group of Primary Source Sets about topics in US history, literature, and culture, along with new features for navigating our growing project.

New Primary Source Sets for Education
October 20, 2015

New Primary Source Sets for Education

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is very pleased to announce the release of its first group of Primary Source Sets about topics in US history, literature, and culture. These sets were developed and reviewed by a new Education Advisory Committee for use by students and teachers in grades 6-12 and higher education. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to additional resources, and a teaching guide. This project was generously funded by the Whiting Foundation.