Welcome to the project site for the sensory-friendly library initiative at the Penn State Libraries! Our hope is to build sensory rooms in our libraries for all of our students to use for the benefit of their wellness, with a special emphasis on creating a culture of support for neurodiverse students with severe sensory needs (Penn State News Release).
We created this site to explain our vision, and to keep colleagues and interested parties at all of our campuses up-to-date on our work. We also hope fellow libraries will find some ideas that can help with their own sensory initiatives. If you’d like to track developments related to the project, please subscribe using the box on the right sidebar. Anyone, whether at PSU or elsewhere, is welcome to subscribe. We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions, so please feel free to email us or add comments to the site!
Working together, we can ensure that students will thrive in sensory safe environments that foster their well-being and academic success!
Interactive 360 Degree Tour
We would like express huge thanks to Penn State students Mitchell Nevryanskiy, Erin Morris, and Alexander Romero for creating an interactive tour of the sensory room at Penn State Berks! The trio created this state-of-the-art tour as part of a English 202 class. Click on the flashing tags to find out about the technologies and features of the room.
Introductions from the Video Producers:
Mitchel Nevryanskiy –“I’m Mitchel. I’m a psychology and communications double major. I am president of the NAMI mental health club on campus.”
Erin Morris–“I’m Erin Morris, a psychology major and criminal justice minor. I have done previous research regarding various mental health disorders and how the sensory room can improve symptoms!”
Alex Romero–“My name is Alex Romero, and I am studying Psychology and Criminal Justice. I have firsthand experience with how the Sensory room can improve students’ mental health.”
The tour was created as part of a class project for Dr. Holly Ryan’s ENGL 202 course at Penn State Berks.
***For questions about the Sensory-Friendly Libraries initiative, please reach out to our team at librarysensoryspaces@PennStateOffice365.onmicrosoft.com