Penn State Mont Alto hosts Evening Talk and Star Party

Tom Reinsfelder

Associate Librarian Thomas Reinsfelder assists a student in the Penn State Mont Alto Library.

Credit: Ryan Smith

MONT ALTO, Pa. ― On Sept. 6, Penn State Mont Alto will host an Evening Talk and Star Party beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Library when Thomas "Tom" Reinsfelder, Penn State Mont Alto associate librarian, presents “Life Inside a Big 10 Academic Research Library: So Much More than Books.”

Weather permitting, a star party will follow from 8:30 to 10 p.m., and will be led by Kimberly Herrmann, assistant professor of physics and astronomy. The star party will be located in the field behind the Multipurpose Activities Center and will consist of telescope viewing and night sky tours with green laser pointers. Multiple telescopes should be available, courtesy of TriState Astronomers, a local amateur astronomy club. The presentation and star party are open to the public at no charge.

“Penn State has one of the largest and most innovative research libraries in North America,” said Reinsfelder. “I will talk about some current initiatives and services offered by the many information professionals across the state who are working to acquire, preserve, organize and make available scholarly materials in all forms.”

“I will also share some examples of how Penn State librarians are attracting national and international recognition for their contributions to the profession,” he said.

The Penn State University Libraries recently ranked second among public U.S. university libraries in the 2017 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Library Investment Index. The ARL Index, compiled from the prior academic year’s data submitted by more than 110 university libraries across North America, provides a yearly snapshot of the size of each research library’s collections and its capacity to provide services to students, faculty and staff, as well as to visiting researchers.

Save the dates for additional Evening Talk and Star Party events to be held on Oct. 17 and Nov. 9 in the General Studies Building Auditorium at the Penn State Mont Alto campus. Speakers and titles of the talks will be announced soon.

For more information about the event, contact Debra Collins at [email protected] or 717-749-6112.