Penn State's Pattee and Paterno Libraries

Penn State’s University Libraries compromise 36 libraries at 24 locations throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This is a significant evolution from Penn State’s first library collection housed in Old Main, consisting of 1,500 volumes in agriculture and the sciences. Due to an ever-expanding accumulation of books, the library then moved to the Carnegie Building in 1904, then to the Pattee Library, built between 1937-40. As the collections grew, so did Pattee: additional wings were added and in 2000, the new Paterno Library and renovated Pattee Library opened.

The ground floor of Paterno Library is home to the Maps Library, special collections storage, and the Digital Library Technology office. The first floor houses the Special Collections Library and the main Technical Services room, while the second and third floors support the Social Sciences Library and the Schreyer Business Library. The fourth floor features an expanded Life Sciences Library, and the fifth floor includes the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library and administrative offices.

Pattee Library, connected to Paterno Library at the Curtin Road entrance, houses the Arts and Humanities Library, the Gateway Commons, the main circulation area, and the extended hours library, which encompasses the Microforms and News Library and the Reserve Reading Room. Also on the ground floor of Pattee, at the west entrance, is MacKinnon’s Café, the perfect spot for a study break.

The Libraries' cataloged collection now approaches 5 million items. Roughly 100,000 volumes are added to the collection annually.

This Penn State landmark is part of the iHear Penn State self-guided cell phone campus tour, listed as stop #25.  Accessing iHear Penn State is easy. Dial the tour access number (814-308-5020) on your cell phone and follow the instructions. All stops are listed at http://ihear.psu.edu/

Additional photos:
http://live.psu.edu/image/170
http://live.psu.edu/image/20446

Virtual tour of Pattee:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/vtour/tour_pattee.html

Virtual tour of Paterno:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/vtour/vtour_paterno.html

Library hours:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/hours.html

Finding research guides by subject:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides.html

 

 

 

Last Updated September 12, 2011