Rachel D’Agostino joined the Library Company in 2000. She is the Curator of Printed Books, previously having worked as Reference Librarian, and in the Cataloging and Administration departments. She has worked most extensively with the Library Company’s collections of printing for the blind, historical ephemera, institutional and popular medicine, and early American imprints. In 2013, she co-curated the Library Company’s exhibition Remnants of Everyday Life: Historical Ephemera in the Workplace, Street, and Home. She followed this in 2016 with Common Touch: The Art of the Senses in the History of the Blind, and in 2022 with Hearing Voices: Memoirs from the Margins of Mental Health. Rachel has taught numerous classes on book history and book arts, and served as Senior Lecturer at the University of the Arts until 2022. In addition to an MLS from Clarion University, Rachel holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School and a B.A. in Religion from Temple University.
Wynn Eakins is a community archivist and librarian who served as the Reading Room Assistant, and later the Reference Librarian and African American History Subject Specialist at the Library Company of Philadelphia between 2020 and 2024. Before joining the Library Company in 2020, Wynn graduated with a B.F.A. in African American Studies from Wesleyan University and worked with special collections at Yale’s Program for Recovery & Community Health, the John J. Wilcox LGBT Archives, and the FLP’s Children’s Literature Research Collection.
Wynn completed a post-baccalaureate certificate in Community Based Librarianship at Drexel University in 2021, where they identified a significant accessibility gap in regional educational circles concerning early-American Black history and culture. In response, Wynn sought to close the gap by connecting diverse communities of memory workers, educators, artists, and more with the Library Company’s rich digital and physical resources. They also pursued further education in this area by taking course on Black Bibliography through Rare Book School at Princeton University and the Schomburg Center in 2023. Through their engagement with organizations such as the ALA, RBMS, the Caribbean Studies Association, Paul Robeson House Museum, Scribe Video Center, and more, Wynn has become an ambassador for the institution’s collections in African, African American, and Caribbean history and culture.
Michael Gray Jr. has been a Senior Media Visual Specialist at TML Communications since 2017. He has worked with dozens of clients creating marketing collateral for both print and digital (web/mobile) uses. His work has appeared in marketing campaigns, media ads, newspapers, and billboards. He has a unique ability to capture the best image based on the vision of the client. He has designed billboards and compelling marketing collateral for a wide variety of clients. He has photographed major events, architecture, and newsworthy moments in the City of Philadelphia. In addition, he has years of experience using photography management and editing software. This experience allows him to produce final images based on the desires of the client and the intended use.
Mr. Gray attended the Arts Institute of Philadelphia majoring in Photography, with a focus on photographic storytelling and videography. His work product has been featured in local and major publications including Time Magazine and the Washington Post.
As a Philadelphia native, he has been behind the lens for nearly a decade capturing moments for organizations, tours, press conferences, and community events across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At TML Communications, Michael has captured groundbreaking moments during the 2016 Democratic National Convention, local and national elections, press conferences, celebrities, athletes, and community protests for clients in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Washington D.C.
Sharon Hildebrand joined the staff as the Lea Family Head of Conservation in September 2022. For fourteen years prior, she has served as Head Preparator for Works on Paper at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her previous positions include various book and paper conservation and preservation roles at the American Philosophical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, as well as an earlier stint at the Library Company. She studied bookbinding and printmaking at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. Her research interests include sewn-board bindings, historical endbands, and publisher cloth bindings. Sharon teaches bookbinding and book arts classes and workshops, and is a member of the Guild of Book Workers and the Philadelphia Center for the Book.
Linda Kimiko August is Curator of Art and Artifacts and Visual Materials Cataloger at the Library Company of Philadelphia. She joined the staff in 2004. She is a graduate of Widener University with a BA in History and an MA in Museum Communication from the University of the Arts. Ms. August is a Visual Materials Cataloger in the Graphic Arts Department and the Curator of the Art & Artifacts Collection, which contains over 300 cultural objects, including paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and scientific instruments. She spearheaded a multi-year project to digitize and catalog the Art & Artifacts Collection and conserve a number of important pieces by successfully attaining grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). She co-curated the exhibition Together We Win: The Philadelphia Homefront During the First World War and curated Stylish Books: Designing Philadelphia Furniture. Her research interests include the history of the Library Company, the artifacts in the collection, and Asian American history.
ric Preservation) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MSLS).
Teresa M. Lundy is the Principal and Founder of TML Communications, the award-winning strategic public relations, crisis communications, media ad-buying and community engagement firm that produces results. The firm has served clients nationwide including DoorDash, the Office of the Sheriff of Philadelphia, Zipcar, Lyft, Temple University, and the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local Union 57. Under Teresa’s leadership, the firm has a focus on community outreach and has partnered with clients to deliver free food to more than 20,000 families. In addition, the firm purchased dinner for Chestnut Hill Hospital healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teresa was named 2023 City & State Power of Diversity: Women 100, one of Philadelphia’s Power Women for 2021 by Metro Philadelphia and named 40 Under Forty in Al Día News. TML Communications received recognition in the Congressional Record for the 117th Congress. In addition, the firm received the Inspiring Excellence Award from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce in October 2020. Teresa has made significant contributions to the public relations industry by serving on the Board of Governors / Directors of the Share Food Program, Philly Ad Club, NAACP – Philadelphia Chapter, Director-At-Large for Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communications, and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
TML Communications
TML Communications (TML) is an award-winning strategic public relations, crisis communications, and community engagement firm that produces results. Clients engage with TML Communications because they understand when their message or advocacy issue needs a thoughtful response and a clear pathway to results, there’s one firm with a track record of success. Founded by Principal, Teresa M. Lundy, TML Communications, LLC is recognized as one of the leading certified W/MBE minority public relations, communications and advocacy firms across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. TML is a full-service public relations firm, providing consultation services to clients in a variety of industries.
Erika Piola is the Curator of Graphic Arts and Director of the Visual Culture Program at the Library Company of Philadelphia. She has worked in the Graphic Arts Department at the Library Company since 1997. She received her B.A. from Haverford College and her M.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania. She is Director of the Visual Culture Program and has served as a project director and curator for a number of Library Company initiatives, including Imperfect History, Common Touch, Philadelphia on Stone, 18th-and 19th-Century Ephemera, and African Americana Graphics. She is editor and contributor to Philadelphia on Stone: Commercial Lithography in Philadelphia, 1828-1878 (Penn State University Press, 2012). Ms. Piola has also presented and published work on American visual culture, 19th-century ephemera, the antebellum Philadelphia print market, and the Library’s African American history and photography collections. Her research interests include Philadelphia lithography, the frame maker and print dealer James S. Earle, print seller Sarah Hart, and stereographs portraying the New Woman.
Sarah Weatherwax is Senior Curator of Graphic Arts at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Sarah has worked at the Library Company of Philadelphia since 1993. She received a B.A. in History from the College of Wooster (Ohio) and a M.A. in History from the College of William and Mary. She has published articles in the Daguerreian Annual, The Magazine Antiques, Pennsylvania History, and Imprint: The Journal of the American Historical Print Collectors Society, and contributed a chapter about lithographer Peter S. Duval to Philadelphia on Stone: Commercial Lithography in Philadelphia, 1828-1878. She has curated exhibitions on topics as diverse as Philadelphia daguerreotypes, the Philadelphia homefront during World War One, Federal artist William Birch, and most recently Imperfect History. Other research interests include women in photography and Philadelphia’s built environment. She currently serves on the board of the American Historical Print Collectors Society.
