UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries’ 2024 Library Discovery Hours provide in-depth perspectives of today’s academic research library and its student-centered and research-supporting priorities. This year’s special events include travels with exclusive access to several prominent Penn State alumni whose papers have been donated to the University Libraries’ special collections.
The University Libraries Development and Alumni Relations team encourages those interested in attending one or more events to bookmark this webpage and save the following dates on their calendars.
Details of events will be updated below and also on the Library Discovery Hour page as they are finalized. All times are listed in Eastern time. In-person events require advance registration.
Jan. 30: The Dean’s Corner
The year’s first event, held online at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 30, features Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications Faye Chadwell presenting additional details about the 2024 Library Discovery Hour schedule and an inside look at today’s Penn State University Libraries, annually recognized as a top research library in North America. A recording of the event is available online.
March 27: An Evening in D.C. with the Hon. Barbara H. Franklin
The year’s first Library Discovery Hour on the road in Washington, D.C., held by invitation only, promised attendees an inspiring evening that shone a spotlight on some remarkable Penn State women during Women’s History Month and incredible stories and accomplishments of these women through the University Libraries’ collections.
The evening’s highlight was a fireside chat featuring Dean Faye A. Chadwell and a notable Penn State alumna and the evening’s host, Sec. Barbara H. Franklin. Her oral history is part of the University Libraries’ A Few Good Women oral history collection that accompanies the University Libraries’ book “A Matter of Simple Justice: The Untold Story of Barbara Hackman Franklin and A Few Good Women,” distributed by Penn State University Press with an updated paperback edition in 2020.
Guests also heard from Interim Head of Special Collections and University Archivist Ben Goldman who spoke about the Eberly Family Special Collections Library and A Few Good Women oral history collection. A video recording of the event is available online.
May 16: A Celebration of Excellence: Honoring the Madlyn L. Hanes Library
The second traveling event of 2024 takes Library Discovery Hour to Penn State Harrisburg, where attendees will discover why the Madlyn L. Hanes Library was named the Pennsylvania Library Association’s 2023 Library of the Year. The event begins at 6 p.m. with a hybrid presentation in the Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, welcoming invited in-person attendees as well as virtual attendees via Zoom, followed by a reception in the library. Advance registration is requested.
Online registration for the Zoom presentation is open to the public. Those interested in attending the in-person presentation may email grl5147@psu.edu for more information and to request an invitation.
June 21: We Are Weekend
Wondering what a 21st-century library looks like? Our Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) department offers a glimpse in person or via Zoom beginning at 1 p.m. June 21. Attendees will learn about our mission to innovate education through cutting-edge technologies like immersive experiences and artificial intelligence. Afterward, in-person attendees may tour Pattee Library and Paterno Library to explore what has changed since they have walked its halls — and what’s still the same!
Please note: This tour, limited to 60 participants, involves extensive walking. Attendees are encouraged to dress appropriately and wear comfortable shoes.
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Zoom registration for the 1 p.m. TLT presentation also is available.
Sept. 19: Exploring Expertise: The Early Career Librarian Showcase
This hybrid Library Discovery Hour features some of the University Libraries’ brightest and high-achieving young faculty librarians in the first 10 years of their career who have been honored with three-year appointments as early career librarians. These endowed appointments, focused on science librarianship, technological innovations and learning innovations, respectively, provide recipients with a salary supplement and funds to pursue professional goals and development related to their submitted proposals.
The three current early career librarians — Christina Riehman-Murphy, Sally W. Kalin Early Career Librarian: Learning Innovations; Ruth Kitchin Tillman, Sally W. Kalin Early Career Librarian: Technological Innovations; and Brianna Ezray Wham, Eric N. and Bonnie S. Prystowsky Early Career Librarian: Science Libraries — are featured during this event, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
Oct. 17: An Evening in Penn State's Archive: A Love Letter to Philadelphia
The fall’s first Library Discovery Hour details are being finalized but will be held in the Philadelphia area and will feature three notable Penn State alumni whose papers or collections are in the University Libraries’ special collections, with two attending the event:
- The late Charles Blockson, co-founder of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia, founder and curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University Libraries, and donor of Penn State University Libraries’ Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora.
- Col. Guion “Guy” S. Bluford Jr., a retired United States Air Force officer, fighter pilot and former NASA astronaut recognized as the first African American to go to space, in 1983; in 2021, he received the Air Force ROTC Distinguished Alumnus Award and a Penn State named a building in his honor.
- V.P. Franklin, distinguished professor emeritus of history and education at the University of California, Riverside, former editor of The Journal of African American History and author of the book “The Young Crusaders: The Untold Story of the Children And Teenagers Who Galvanized The Civil Rights Movement.”
Nov. 12: Behind the Campaign: GivingTuesday at the Libraries
Details are being finalized for a year-end virtual Library Discovery Hour especially for alumni and friends who value the University Libraries. They will hear first about the Libraries’ bold goals for annual giving to support students’ academic success and power the innovative potential of 21st-century library resources and services.
Individuals interested in learning more about Library Discovery Hour events may visit the Library Discovery Hour webpage, and those who would like to RSVP or be placed on a waiting list for one of the invitation-only, in-person events may contact Gretchen Little at grl5147@psu.edu.