Schlow Library Hosting Sports-Centric 10th Birthday Celebration & Fundraiser

Ten years ago, Schlow Library officially opened its new home on Allen Street on Oct. 3, 2005.

With the decade anniversary coming up this weekend, the library is hosting two celebration events on Thursday and Friday evening.

It’s only fitting that the celebration — which is held in partnership with Town & Gown Magazine — is focusing on the world of sports and sportswriting, considering that it’s football season in Happy Valley.

The library is bringing in some acclaimed sportswriters to hold a panel discussion tonight and a meet-and-greet on Friday. 

“The first thing we looked at was the calendar and we saw five home games in the fall,” said Lynn Petnick, chair of the celebration and fundraiser committee. “We realized we would probably have to do this on a football weekend, so that’s how the sports theme came into it. These people have written books about sporting events.”

The list of writers includes Harvey Araton (New York Times), Nancy Armour (USA Today), Filip Bondy (New York Daily News), David Pencek (Town & Gown), and Michael Weinreb (Rolling Stone). Tonight’s panel presentation runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Days Inn and is free for all attendees. The event will be moderated by John Affleck, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society at Penn State. 

The celebration really heats up on Friday night with a “Meet the Sportswriters” event at the library. All of the panelists will be on tap and the party will include Harrison’s hors d’oeuvres, Otto’s beer, and wine. The celebration runs from 7 to 9 p.m. and costs $50 a person, with all proceeds going to the Schlow Library Foundation.

In a year where the state budget debate has the library patiently waiting to see how much the commonwealth’s contribution will be, fundraisers like these are more important than ever for Schlow. Sue Werner, the president of the Schlow Library Foundation and one of the organizers for the celebration, said that the library can use every donation it gets.

“Since we don’t have a budget this year from the state yet, we don’t know how much their contribution to our operating funds will be,” Werner said. “The contributions from this event will help balance the budget. Over the last 10 years, there’s been over $1 million lost in state funding to the library, so that has to be made up with prizes and donations.”

And it has been made up that way, especially in the library’s most desperate times of need. When the flood earlier this year temporarily closed the library and damaged plenty of books, the community chipped in to help lessen to blow to Schlow.

“One of the really surprising things was just how much money people would bring off the street,” Werner said. “Kids were bringing in piggy banks to help with the library.”

Petnick added that the library isn’t invincible by any means, despite many thinking that Schlow could never close.

“Some people think the library will always have enough money, but the fact is it won’t unless we do something,” she said. “Last year the library was closed for a week and the staff was furloughed because there was no money to keep it open.”

In the decade since Schlow opened on Allen Street, the library has seen more than three million patrons walk through its doors and boasts over 150,000 lending items. If you want to do your part to support Schlow and meet some big names in sportswriting, the $50 tickets are available online for Friday night’s event here, at Schlow’s front desk, or at the door tomorrow evening.