UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — More than 3,500 University Park students are expected to participate in Penn State University Libraries’ annual fall Open House, held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 6 and 7, in Pattee Library and Paterno Library and all four branch library locations across campus. Students swipe their Penn State I.D. cards to check in at six or more self-guided tour stops as they learn more about the Libraries’ academic, research and leisure resources and services, then swipe to complete the tour at the Finish Line for free gifts and to become eligible to win one of several grand prizes.

The full tour includes 10 stops — six in Pattee and Paterno Libraries — and one stop each at the Arts and Architecture Library, 111 Stuckeman Family Building; Earth and Mineral Sciences Library, 105 Deike Building; Engineering Library, 325 Hammond Building; and Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library, 201 Davey Lab.

Each tour stop engages students with activities or presentations to highlight the Libraries’ services, with additional options to tour the stacks, navigate a maze, and try some geocaching, origami and more.

Students who complete all 10 stops will receive a free Penn State University Libraries T-shirt, while supplies last. With the completion of six stops, students receive a flip-top translucent blue water bottle, earn an emailed certificate of completion shareable with instructors, and become eligible to win one of 11 grand prizes.

Grand prizes available exclusively for registered graduate and undergraduate students include four $500 Penn State Bookstore gift cards, two Kindle Fires, two Fitbit Alta fitness wristbands, a pair of Beats Solo3 wireless headphones, a Beats Pill+ Bluetooth speaker and two tickets for the NBC Studio Tour in New York City.

University Libraries administrators, faculty and staff volunteer at the two-day event to help students as they learn more about the resources available to them both on site and online.

One of the largest and most successful library orientation programs of its kind nationwide, the Penn State Libraries’ Open House event began in 2001 at the University Park campus. In previous years, more than 95 percent of students participating in the Open House said the event helped them to learn more about the Libraries’ many resources and physical spaces, and they would recommend the Open House event to other students.

Sponsored in part by the Penn State University Bookstore, the event is free and open to the public, although eligibility for prizes is limited to Penn State students. Information and images will be posted during both days of the event on the University Libraries’ @psulibs Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Individuals can include their content in those social media streams by tagging @psulibs and using the hashtag #openhouse.

For more information, including physical access and special accommodations, contact Megan Gilpin at mcg13@psu.edu or 814-867-0069.