Preview of the newly renovated library at Penn State Fayette, featuring new paint and carpeting, as reassembly begins.
LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. — Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, and Penn State University Libraries will unveil the newly renovated Fayette Campus Library on Wednesday, Sept. 4. The annual Library Open House will double as its grand reopening from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Faculty, staff and students are invited to celebrate and explore its upgraded features and resources.
Construction for the $1.5 million project began on July 17, 2023, funded primarily through Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant. Visitors will enjoy new carpeting, paint, modular furniture for individual or group study, a modern circulation desk and a meditation station. The $92,000 furniture cost was funded by University Libraries. LibWell, a University Libraries initiative focused on student wellness, supplied a micro-grant to help furnish the new meditation station.
“The library has looked the same since the 1970s. If we want to recruit and retain students, we need to give them facilities that are bright, safe and clean, places they want to study, research, work on their group projects or get help with reference and research,” said Emma Beaver, head librarian. “It’s exciting to focus on what we’re able to provide our students. This is a win for the campus.”
The Fayette Campus Library offers research assistance, virtual reality equipment, quiet and collaborative study spaces, lendable technology and other resources and services. As a land-grant institution, Pennsylvania residents may obtain a University Libraries borrowing card; while they don’t have access to all University Libraries services available to students and employees, Pennsylvanians may access most of the physical collection available throughout the University Libraries’ locations at each Penn State campus across the Commonwealth and most online resources, such as e-books and library databases, while using designated in-library computer stations.
The Fayette Campus Library also houses the Coal and Coke Heritage Center, a museum showcasing the history of the Pittsburgh Coal Seam and the high-quality Connellsville Coke vital to steel production. The center explores the cultural heritage of the communities that worked in local mines.
Contact the Library at 724-430-4155 or [email protected] for service-related questions, and visit the University Libraries’ Fayette Campus Library web page for hours of operation and more information. Library users with reference questions also may use the Ask a Librarian service available via online chat, email, text message, phone or by appointment.
