University Libraries News

Instructors in Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology’s Faculty Engagement Awards program have applied the benefits of artificial intelligence-powered video cameras to improve students’ learning experience in live and recorded video lectures.

Zach Bryan at the Bryce Jordan Center, the Let's Dance movement workshop, and The Four Phantoms In Concert at Penn State York are among some of the cultural events taking place across the University over the next two weeks.

Penn State students looking for meaningful work that incorporates their skills and future career goals — without leaving campus — may find that and more at Penn State University Libraries. This is the third in a series of student worker spotlights highlighting meaningful learning and working experiences at the University Libraries.

The inaugural lecture, set for 6:30 p.m. March 26 in the Hintz Family Alumni Center at University Park, features a conversation with Sybrina Fulton, racial justice activist and mother of Trayvon Martin, a Black youth whose 2012 death helped spark the early #BlackLivesMatter movement. The lecture is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required.

Penn State student organizations and units at campuses across the commonwealth will offer events in honor of National Women’s History Month in March. The theme this year is "Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion."

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Penn State University Libraries will host a virtual Wikipedia editathon focusing on Native American women activists and environmentalists. The editathon will be held from noon to 2 p.m. March 19 on Zoom. Participants can get the Zoom link by registering for the event.

Beginning March 13, the Research Informatics and Publishing department at Penn State University Libraries will offer a series of five virtual workshops on statistical analysis in the programming language R. The workshops are free and open to Penn State undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty and staff. Advance registration is required by March 11.

A new initiative by the Penn State Scranton’s library staff hopes to encourage more campus engagement with the library – and more reading -- by “carting” materials from the library directly to students, faculty and staff.

Artists, scholars and educators are invited to apply through March 31 for the 2024 Judy Chicago Art Education Award, named in honor of one of the Feminist Art Movement’s key founders. Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library houses the Judy Chicago Art Education Collection, and the University Libraries’ Strategic Technologies team developed and manages the Judy Chicago Portal connecting five partner institutions’ archival collections online.

The Penn State Powwow, Step Afrika! at Penn State Altoona, and beekeeping webinars are among some of the cultural events taking place across the University this weekend and next week. 

On the third floor of West Pattee Library, on Penn State's University Park campus, visitors to the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora can access history from a variety of African cultures over generations. The collection offers a look into the African experience in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, with materials dating as far back as 1632.

Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) has announced that its virtual Symposium Lite will return on March 28, the week after the in-person TLT Symposium. The half-day event will feature four 30-minute, prerecorded presentations followed by 15-minute, live facilitated discussions with presenters. 

On March 20 and April 3, Penn State University Libraries will present free virtual seminars designed to help undergraduate students conduct and present research. Advance registration is required and all workshops are offered via Zoom.

As Penn State plans for its next comprehensive fundraising campaign, University President Neeli Bendapudi and her husband, Venkat Bendapudi, have stepped forward with a leadership gift to champion areas aligned with their passions, benefitting both students and the wider community. Their $250,000 commitment will be directed primarily to the University Libraries, the Center for the Performing Arts, and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

Penn State's Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs has named 13 distinguished professors for 2024. The title recognizes outstanding academic contribution to the University. 

Ellysa Stern Cahoy, education librarian and director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, and Tom Reinsfelder, head librarian at Mont Alto Campus Library, have received the title of Distinguished Librarian in the University Libraries for their outstanding academic, research and service contributions.

Students at University Park now have the convenience of on-the-go wireless charging using the newly upgraded Omnicharge power banks provided by the University Libraries. Omnicharge is a portable, all-in-one device that can power smartphones and other mobile devices, but also laptops.

Top Hat is partnering with Penn State’s Harrisburg, Altoona and Hazleton campuses to offer a series of workshops Feb. 27–29 designed to enhance faculty’s use of the engagement platform's tools to deliver interactive and personalized learning. 

Award-winning author Matthew Salesses will offer a free reading at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, in Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus as part of the 2023-24 Mary E. Rolling Reading Series.

The African American Music Festival, a Lunar New Year dance performance at Penn State Berks, and a visit from reporter and environmental author Geoff Dembicki are among the cultural highlights across the University this weekend and next week.