Since 2018, the libraries at several Penn State campuses — Brandywine, Fayette, Mont Alto and University Park — have entered into collaborative agreements with their local public libraries to make access to Penn State library resources easier for community members.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As a land-grant research library system, Penn State University Libraries provides all Pennsylvania residents with borrowing privileges for their collections. Several campuses across the state have entered into collaborative agreements with their local public libraries to make that access even easier.
In 2018, Schlow Centre Region Library in downtown State College addressed an inconvenient and potentially expensive challenge: University Park students and employees sometimes return materials borrowed from a Penn State library to Schlow Library by mistake. This resulted in added costs associated with having to ship the materials to the appropriate library on campus.
The innovative solution was to offer a reciprocal materials-return service that allows patrons of both library systems to return checked-out materials at any campus or Schlow return location. Several times a week, Libraries delivery employees stop at Schlow Library to deliver Schlow’s materials returned to campus library locations and retrieve University Libraries materials collected at Schlow’s drop-off sites in and beyond the Centre Region.
“Although geographically close, Schlow Centre Region Library and Penn State had been relying on standard mail and shipping services to move materials between libraries,” said Chris Holobar, manager of access services systems for University Libraries. “Including Schlow in Penn State’s standard truck route allowed us to move those materials ourselves, resulting in faster turnaround for borrowers and lower institutional shipping costs.”
All Pennsylvania residents have borrowing privileges at all Penn State University Libraries locations and may obtain a borrowing card at any University Libraries location in the state. In addition, the libraries at several Commonwealth Campuses have entered into their own reciprocal agreements with public libraries in their communities.
“The campus partnerships are a little different from the Schlow–Centre partnership, because people cannot return books from the campus libraries to the public libraries or vice versa,” said Jennie Levine Knies, University Libraries associate dean for Commonwealth Campus Libraries. “Instead, we’ve arranged to be able to use the local public library’s library card as our library card as well. This gives local residents access to materials at Penn State campus libraries, and helps us to cultivate a meaningful relationship with Pennsylvania communities.”
Brandywine, Delaware County libraries partner for community borrowing option
Brandywine Campus Library was the first Penn State library beyond University Park to introduce such an agreement. In 2022, the library entered a lending partnership with Delaware County Libraries. Now users of any of the county library system’s 28 locations may use their public library card to check out books and other items from Brandywine Campus Library and other locations.
“Just last week, I helped a Pennsylvania resident get an account when we had a book available that had a waiting list in the public library system,” said Teresa Slobuski, head librarian at Brandywine Campus Library, who noted that the number of community borrowers has increased by more than 85% in the three years since the program was implemented.
Interested community members may visit Brandywine Campus Library, where they will create an online account that will enable them to request and renew books. In addition, the account will give them on-campus access to University Libraries-licensed digital content, including hundreds of library databases, when using designated public computer workstations in Brandywine Campus Library or any other University Libraries location.
Mont Alto teams up with Franklin County Library System to expand borrowing options
In 2023, cardholders of the Franklin County Library System and the Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library also gained the ability to use their public library cards to check out items at Mont Alto Campus Library, following the same simple account registration process used at Vairo Library.
Users of any of the county’s public libraries may use their library card to request items from Mont Alto or other Penn State University Libraries locations. In addition, Penn State students may use their student ID to borrow books from libraries in Blue Ridge Summit, Chambersburg, Greencastle, Saint Thomas and Waynesboro.
“The county bookmobile also stops on campus once a month,” said Tom Reinsfelder, head librarian at Penn State Mont Alto. “This is one thing we can do to encourage people in the community to visit our campus. At the same time, it helps promote the public library system among our campus community.”
Penn State Fayette library joins WAGGIN network for shared borrowing
In late 2024, Fayette Campus Library at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, partnered with the WAGGIN network, which connects public libraries across Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. Residents with a WAGGIN library card can borrow books from the Fayette Campus Library and request items from other Penn State University Libraries locations.
By completing the same account registration process used at Brandywine and Mont Alto libraries, community members gain access to Penn State’s library databases and electronic journals while visiting the campus library and logging onto a library workstation designated for community members’ use. Borrowers can manage all library materials using their Penn State account and WAGGIN card, eliminating the need to juggle multiple cards.
The WAGGIN partnership supports the PA Forward initiative, launched in 2012 by the Pennsylvania Library Association to position libraries as community hubs. By advancing literacy in five areas — basic; information; civic and social; health; and financial — the initiative empowers Pennsylvanians to thrive in various aspects of life. Participating libraries earn bronze, silver or gold star statuses based on the number and impact of programs they offer in these literacy areas.
All Pennsylvania residents, regardless of whether they have a reciprocal or shared borrowing program with their local public library, still have access to borrowing privileges for both physical and digital resources available through the Penn State University Libraries system.
Penn State University Libraries supports Penn State’s land-grant mission by providing library resources for all Pennsylvanians through participation in the State Library Resource Center program. The program offers a host of privileges to all Pennsylvania residents, such as the ability to sign up online for a Free Library of Philadelphia library card to access the Free Library’s e-book catalog through the Libby by Overdrive app.
Additional details about Penn State University Libraries borrowing cards and privileges are available online. Before visiting any Penn State library, users are encouraged to check hours of operation.
