Charles L. Suhr Library and Learning Commons

VENANGO CAMPUS TRANSITION

Cultural and economic growth in Venango County will get a boost under a plan developed by the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry and Tourism and Pennsylvania Western University Clarion for the university’s Venango property.

Starting in fall 2024, pending approval by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the Associate of Science in Nursing will relocate to the Clarion campus. 

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For Reference and Research help contact the Librarians at Carlson Library.  

The Charles L. Suhr Library & Learning Commons enables students and other learners to engage with each other, technology, and resources in a shared manner. This multi-functional and energizing space allows students and community member's access to the traditional library services and support, plug-in station and computers. The Suhr Library & Learning Commons provides students the opportunity to further their education, knowledge development and collaborative problem solving skills while also inviting the larger community of faculty, staff and public patrons to share the benefits. The PennWest University – Venango Campus has a long history of creating mutually beneficial academic and community partnerships and the Learning Commons is a demonstration of this partnership.

Students now have access to study rooms, group study areas, and study pods, which provide comfortable space for focused study and privacy, and a variety of seating options. Students benefit from the addition of a classroom ecosystem that integrates people, place and technology. Career Services, all of the academic support services and writing center are now under one roof, with the library.

The library space continues to house the Barbara Morgan Harvey Center for the Study of Oil Heritage. The Collection includes a variety of books that document the history of the region, newspaper clippings from the early 1900s, minutes from the meetings of early oil companies from the late 1800s, maps and photographs. The collection serves as a center and clearinghouse for scholarship and research of the Oil Region's history and heritage.

A library technician and student assistants are on staff to provide you assistance.

Suhr's print collections are supplemented by those of Carlson Library on Clarion campus. Both collections are cataloged in one on-line catalog.  The libraries are able to share their resources through a courier service and through electronic document delivery services.

Print resources at Suhr Library have been greatly enhanced through subscriptions to e-books and indexing and full-text databases which are available through University Library databases and interlibrary loan.

  

  Here's what you can find and access as part of the library services:

• desktop computers and scanners
• laptops available for overnight loan with ID card
• An iPad is available for one-week loan with ID card
• Printing - black and white prints for 5 cents/page, color prints for 50 cents/page.  Students receive $5 credit each semester on their ID card or pay in cash.
• Free scanning
• Photocopying

Need a place to study?

• comfortable furnishings and isolation booths for quiet, small group study or just hanging out
• plug in stations and a recharging station
• space for working on group projects
• TVs available for viewing DVDs individually or in a group

Are you a health science major?

• Skeleton, brain, arm & leg models available to Anatomy and Physiology students to study outside of class

 Additional Services

• one month loan on most books including children and young adult books
• reference and research assistance in finding information for papers, speeches, etc. 
• interlibrary loan access to books and journal articles from libraries across the nation.  Books requested will often show up within a few days; articles sometimes arrive within hours.

 

The mission of the PennWest Clarion Libraries, comprised of the Carlson Library on the Clarion campus and Suhr Library on the Venango campus, is to:

• assist University undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and administration in conveniently locating and accessing the University's information resources and those of other sources;
• develop and provide timely and responsive services, programs, and tools that facilitate translation of information into knowledge and support research, scholarship, teaching, and learning;
• build, select, and preserve, in cooperation with University faculty, a collection of information resources commensurate with the current and anticipated discipline needs of the University's instructional programs and supportive of teaching and learning processes;
• contribute to progress of the University and the profession; and
• participate in addressing the information resource needs of local and rural communities in Pennsylvania.