UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State will celebrate its ninth GivingTuesday on Tuesday, Nov. 28, and Penn State University Libraries invites alumni and friends to participate by showing support for its funds benefiting student well-being and the PSU Press Unlocked open access initiative.

“GivingTuesday is a powerful reminder of the impact we can make when we come together as a community. Our Student Well-Being Initiative and PSU Press Unlocked campaigns embody our commitment to create a brighter future for all of our Penn State students,” Faye A. Chadwell, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, said. “By supporting these initiatives, we can empower our students and ensure that knowledge knows no boundaries.”

Supporting student well-being has become an important facet of college libraries’ role in supporting students’ academic success. In partnership with several student graphic design student teams, the University Libraries has begun piloting designated areas called sensory spaces and sensory space kits in backpacks they can use in locations of their choosing.

Sensory spaces provide safe, calming spaces with low lighting and sound-quieting equipment and furnishings for students, including but not limited to neurodivergent individuals with sensory processing disorders. These spaces and their equipment, including those in kits, can be especially of benefit during periods of high stress.

Funding for student well-being raised by the University Libraries during GivingTuesday will support sensory spaces and kits as well as recurring events such as De-Stress Fest. It provides students with free snacks and activities for mental breaks leading up to and during finals week each semester.

For more information, visit the University Libraries Student Well-Being Initiative webpage.

Penn State University Press, founded in 1956, is Penn State’s scholarly publications arm and a division of the University Libraries. The Press publishes rigorously reviewed, high-quality works of scholarship with a focus on the humanities and social sciences, as well as books of regional and contemporary interest. Its mission is to promote the advance of scholarship by disseminating knowledge — new information, interpretations, methods of analysis — widely in books, journals and digital publications.

This mission is truly fulfilled when its publications are made freely available to students, educators and researchers. To achieve this goal, the Press has launched PSU Press Unlocked. This open access effort is a proud part of the University Libraries’ mission to expand free access to scholarly resources.

PSU Press Unlocked is a growing collection of books and journals published by Penn State University Press that are available to read digitally at no cost to the reader and with limited restrictions regarding use. It currently features three Open Access journals and more than 80 books.

Many individuals benefit when scholarly research is “unlocked”:

• Students and researchers can easily read and build on the most recent work in their fields;
• Readers with disabilities face fewer barriers to research in preferred formats;
• Authors gain more exposure for their scholarly work;
• Universities and academic presses have a broader impact by being able to reach a wider audience; and
• Scholars from under-resourced communities and geographical regions can access research that may have been otherwise unavailable to them.

The PSU Press Unlocked: Opening Access to Scholarly Publications webpage provides additional information.

Although GivingTuesday takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 28, Penn State’s celebration is kicking off early on Monday, Nov. 27, at 18:55 (6:55 p.m. EST) — a nod to the year in which the University was founded.

Those interested in contributing to the University Libraries’ student well-being initiative or PSU Press Unlocked, or establishing a personal fundraising page as a campaign champion can learn more here.

Gifts made on GivingTuesday advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends help students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; drive research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increase the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.