Your Donation at Work
"We enact our values through the decisions we make and the actions we take. The value of access, especially access to higher education and access to a public research library’s resources, motivates and energizes me as a library leader. It's clear that this value also motivates and energizes our supporters because of the actions they take. We celebrate their generous philanthropy as it enables Penn State Libraries to reach the highest levels of excellence in our services, collections, and personnel."
- Dean Faye A. Chadwell
KAREN POLLOCK AND THE WORK STUDY STUDENT BOOK AWARD
Former Penn State Student and current Libraries donor Karen Pollock is passionate about making a difference in the lives of Penn State students. Pollock started the Work Study Student Book Award, a gift of $750 to one randomly selected, Library-employed student each semester across all campuses. The money goes towards approved expenses, such as books and laptop accessories to mitigate required costs for students’ courses.
Pollock founded this award because she wanted to have a direct impact on students, a gift that is touching and personal. Helping cover the costs of books for students means one less thing they have to worry about, and that can make all the difference.
Read More about this gift
Pollock’s passion for learning sparked the idea for this award and specifically chose the Libraries because of how important reading and the availability of resources are, and uniquely, this gift is a tribute to her parents. Growing up, she frequently visited libraries with them and would read together every night before bed.
“When I was growing up, my father always said ‘reading is extremely important,’ because when you can read and comprehend you can pretty much do anything in life,” said Pollock.
Learning is a passion of hers, and if anyone else shares that passion and is considering making a gift to the University Libraries, she encourages you to be creative and make an award or donation that can directly impact a student.
GIVING TUESDAY THANK YOU: A MESSAGE FROM DEAN CHADWELL
Tuesday, November 28, was GivingTuesday, as you probably know, and it was an incredible day of giving. It was so inspiring to see the Penn State community come together for many good causes. 9775 Penn State donors collectively raised $1,415,553 for the various campaigns. What a feat! This year, our two campaigns raised $67,115 through the efforts of 254 individual donations. Although we did not beat Penn State Dickinson Law, our priorities did come in 2nd and 4th in total dollars raised. I am thrilled we exceeded our goal for both initiatives. Check out some of the highlights!
Read More about our Giving Tuesday
University Libraries Student Well-Being Initiative
We raised 39,000 (with a goal of 35,000), thanks to 164 donors.
PSU Press Unlocked
We raised 27,715 (with a goal of 25,000), thanks to 90 donors. This is 54 more gifts than last year - a 154% increase!
We had donors from 22 different states and at least one from abroad.
Please know that these outcomes demonstrate that our supporters believe in your commitment to the communities we serve. Thank you for showing up every day to contribute to our excellence. If you were a donor, this is just another example of your dedication and I thank you for your support from the bottom of my heart. --Faye
WORKING TOWARDS DIGITAL EQUITY: THE MARY O'NEILL MARSH TECH ACADEMY ENDOWMENT
Penn State and libraries have always been important to Mary Marsh, who grew up as an avid reader in State College.
Mary graduated from Penn State in 1969 with a degree in law enforcement and corrections. During her time here, she worked at the Health and Human Development (HHD) Library, seeing first hand how important library services are to students.
Read More about Mary's commitment to digital equity.
Mary credits her work at the library with her choice of careers. It was through her association with the HHD library that she became aware of the newly created law enforcement and corrections program. “The program sounded very interesting to me, so I switched majors. My rewarding career in the criminal justice system came out of that.”
A longtime supporter of Penn State, Mary enjoys “supporting students and doing what (she) can to make their lives easier.” When she learned about the Penn State Tech Academy, she was all in, noting that it was a program she would have needed if she were a student. “ I am not very skilled in IT things, and could benefit from the Tech Academy now! In today’s world, IT skills are essential and will be even more so in the future. Students enter college with varying degrees of exposure to technology and the Tech Academy can help level the playing field for them.” A service of the University Libraries, the Tech Academy provides a basic introduction to the essential and freely available technology students will need to be successful at Penn State. The Tech Academy has seen more than 10,000 students enrolled in its programming at 19 campuses and five academic colleges. The goal of the program is to achieve digital equity among students as they learn and navigate new technologies for learning.
Visit the article written by Cori Biddle and Bonnie Imler, librarians at Penn State Altoona, Technology training for first-year students: An answer to questions asked at library service points for an in-depth overview of this valuable resource.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: PHIL AND SUSAN GRESH
Penn State has a special place in the hearts of Phil and Susan Gresh. During their time at Penn State, they met on a blind date at a football game and married three years later. Phil graduated from the College of Liberal Arts and Susan graduated from the College of Health and Human Development, so giving to the Penn State Libraries is considered neutral ground. “We have been coming back to Penn State for a long time and have been involved in many different ways over the years,” said Phil. “Eventually we went and met Sue Kellerman (Judith O. Sieg Chair for Preservation and Head of Preservation, Conservation, and Digitization), and the rest is history.”
Read More about Phil and Susan
Along the way, the Gresh's have given to various areas at the Library, “We try to find one thing that we feel will make a difference. It doesn’t have to be big, but something that will make a difference in either the students’ lives or at the Libraries in general,” said Susan.
Most recently, Phil and Susan supported the Conservation Centre through the acquisition of a new microscope. As a teaching aid, the Olympus CX43 RF microscope is a high-quality imaging device that is highly customizable with different lighting units, polarization fibers, and magnification objectives to fit the University Libraries’ preservation and conservation research needs. “Last fall we saw a demonstration of the microscope, which was incredible. They had staff and interns participating, it was pretty interesting. We walked out, looked at each other and said,'They need that' We thought it would be a great addition to the work they do there,” said Phil. “It was high-tech, it could move them in a different direction, help them do what they do, and help students and interns.”
Presently, the microscope is being used to examine paper fibers and biological specimens, allow student interns to research various conservation materials, enlighten staff on the composition of linen, cotton, silk, and other textile fibers used in the makeup of a book, and much more. The microscope is also equipped with a camera, which allows conservation and preservation specialists to show what they are examining to a larger audience of students.
INVESTMENT IN OUR FUTURE: THE PRYSTOWSKY SCHOLARSHIP
Passionate Penn Staters Eric and Bonnie Prystowsky met at Penn State in 1966 and still consider Penn State a very special place. “Bonnie graduated from The College of the Liberal Arts, and I from The Eberly College of Science,” said Eric Prystowsky. But, both of us spent many hours together in the library. The library became an area of common interest to us then, and a good way for us to give back to Penn State now.”
Read More about the Prystowsky Scholarship
The Prystowskys have a long history of giving back to Penn State, especially the University Libraries, but this year, they started something new. Eric and Bonnie created the Library’s first scholarship to support our work-study students. The Eric and Bonnie Prystowsky Scholarship is designated for Penn State student applicants who are part-time Libraries' employees who also receive a federal work-study grant. The Prystowsky Scholarship awardees must also have achieved or demonstrated the potential for academic success. This scholarship is the first of its kind to be created specifically to support Libraries' work-study students, 95% of which are located at a Commonwealth Campus. The Prystowskys shared, “Our hopes are that the students will be able to pursue their academic interests in an easier way with this latest scholarship.”
Scholarships are the best way to keep a Penn State education within reach for students whose financial resources may be limited but whose potential is limitless. Partnerships with heartfelt purpose and intent, like this one with Eric and Bonnie, sustain our promise to provide access to resources that empower capable, hard-working students, regardless of their financial well-being, for lifetimes of success - with degrees that are both affordable and world-class. Our goal is for every Libraries work-study student to receive a scholarship.
