By: Mark Mattson and Christina Riehman-Murphy

The cakes and cookies are gone, the pie tins are cleaned, and the hashtags are counted. It was extremely close, but Penn State Libraries emerged the winner of the inaugural Great Rare Books Bake Off! 

 A collaborative project between the PSU Libraries and our international sister-library Monash University Library in Melbourne, Australia, the Great Rare Books Bake Off aimed to engage our collective communities with some of the tastier materials from the special collections of the two institutions. As a chance for cultural exchange, and a bit of fun during a time of limited travel and social interaction; and to raise awareness of the partnership between the two universities, the project encouraged individuals to try to bake one of the historic Australian or American recipes from our collections and post the results to social media. While PSU came out just ahead in submissions, both libraries consider the event a great success with over 160 individual submissions tallied between Monash and PSU. Given the fantastic engagement of the inaugural event, the partners are exploring the possibility of making the Bake Off an annual affair. 

To learn more about the event visit the event webpage and to see what people baked, visit Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and search for #BakePennState and #BakeMonash.  

A huge shout out goes out to Christina Riehman-Murphy, the overall organizer of the event, as well as Jennifer Meehan, Clara Drummond, Maggie Welch, Marissa Nicosia, Mark Mattson, Heather Froehlich, Lillian Hansberry, Amanda Peters, Heidi Moyer, Barbara Lessig, Jennifer Cifelli, Bev Molnar, and Christopher Blaska for all of their help putting this together. And a big thank you to all of you who participated in the contest and to our colleagues at Monash for their willingness to give this a go! 

Summer 2020
Academic calendar information for all campuses is available online.

UPDATE: In light of the University’s March 11 announcement regarding measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic, nonessential events and meetings scheduled at University Libraries locations throughout the spring semester have been canceled, rescheduled or will be offered virtually. 

EXHIBITION: Earth Archives: Stories of Human Impact. To coincide with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Earth Archives explores the intersection of the environment, human activity, and the documentary record. Highlights of the virtual exhibition include representations of varied print, manuscript, and art works that invites the viewer to consider a range of environmental-related topics and will serve as a growing, centralized resource.

EXHIBITION: International Solidarity: Highlights from the Ken Lawrence Collection. A virtual look at the visual culture of political protest in the late 20th-century, to provoke thought about international solidarity in our own time, including human and civil rights, immigration, and independence movements.

Friday, Aug. 14, Libraries Trivia Night: Historical Markers. Trivia topics from markers located on campuses across the Commonwealth. will include campuses, diversity, equity, and research. University Archivist Angel Diaz will emcee the evening. Please register in advance for the Zoom event, 7-8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 20, Libraries Lunch Book Club. The University Libraries quarterly book club will launch with the selection “The Hidden Life of Life,” including a Q&A and discussion of the book with author Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. Noon-1:30 p.m. via Zoom. Advanced registration required.