Libraries' Impact Stories

As the American Library Association celebrates its 150th anniversary year, Bernadette A. Lear, Penn State education, behavioral sciences and social sciences librarian, shares with The Conversation several examples from her extensive library history research to illustrate how Pennsylvanians have contributed to American libraries and librarianship.

Throughout the fall, Penn State University Libraries will offer Zotero workshops to teach students how to collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share research using the free, easy-to-use software tool.

Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) has launched AI Creative Labs, a collection of hands-on learning experiences designed to provide instructors with a way to help students explore artificial intelligence through creativity, play and experimentation.

Penn State researchers will keep free open-access publishing options in Wiley journals under a renewed Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) agreement that runs through Dec. 31, 2027. The agreement’s new terms are meant to preserve access for researchers while giving universities a more predictable way to manage rising publishing costs.

The STEM libraries at Penn State University Park have announced a fall 2026 schedule of events and workshops for graduate students. Hosted by the STEM librarians, each event is an excellent opportunity for STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — graduate students to explore student support services, deepen their knowledge of information resources, engage with their peers and socialize in library spaces.

Penn State University Press has announced the appointment of two new series editors for its "History, Archaeology, and Culture of the Levant" series, published under its Eisenbrauns imprint. Deirdre Fulton and Kristine Garroway will serve as the series editors, replacing original and longtime series editors Jeff Blakely and Lawson Younger.

New and returning students to the University Park campus are encouraged to mark their calendars to join Penn State University Libraries' annual fall Open House, to be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 9-10, in Pattee Library and Paterno Library on the University Park campus.

Penn State University Libraries’ Open Publishing program has launched “The Book of Jobs: Poems About Work,” a new open access monograph edited by Erin Murphy, professor of English at Penn State Altoona and the 2026-27 Penn State Laureate.

What do you get when you combine a 25-year-old open-access speech textbook, 14 experienced communications faculty from seven Penn State campuses, a professor from Duquesne University, instructional designers, Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), Penn State University Libraries, and months of writing and peer review?

The Mellon Foundation has awarded a $110,000 grant to the Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library to support a two-year national study examining how environmental and climate-related archival materials are collected, used, and understood across academic institutions and community organizations.