Sovereign Bank Boosts Library Holdings in Two Curricular Areas

A grant from Sovereign Bank will allow establishment of two new permanent book collections in Pennsylvania College of Technology's Madigan Library.

The $2,500 grant, through the Sovereign Bank Foundation, will support new collections in childhood development and in arts and media programming. In addition to supplementing curriculum for students in related School of Integrated Studies majors, both collections will be available to the general public during regular library hours.

"We are so grateful for this support to help us meet the teaching and learning needs of our faculty and students," said Lisette N. Ormsbee, library director. "At the same time, Sovereign Bank's generosity allows us to expand the library's reach to the local community with books on game-based learning, home schooling, creative teaching, arts education, animation, storytelling and much more.

"We invite all members of the Penn College neighborhood to enjoy the beauty of the Madigan Library while browsing these and other Sovereign Bank collections on business and finance, career development, human services and community development."

All titles can be viewed in the library's online catalog by searching "Sovereign Bank."

The Youth and Education collection will include books and periodicals in support of the early childhood education degree program and the Children's Learning Center, a child-care laboratory on the college's main campus. The resources also will be available to parents in the community and to nonprofit agencies and education providers that work with the region's youngsters.

The Arts and Culture materials will support visual and performing arts, radio, and video production. Titles which will strengthen the mass media communication and studio arts associate-degree majors, as well as the college's WPTC-FM radio station and PCTV campus television channel will cover areas such as public speaking and vocal arts, after-school theater programs, screenwriting, animation, and film studies and digital video.

The new collections also will be available to the various majors' advisory committees, corporate experts who represent the prospective employers of Penn College graduates.

The latest grant supplements substantial contributions from Sovereign Bank over the years. In 2007, it funded new collections in business and finance and career development; Sovereign also was among the local financial institutions that supported the construction of the Madigan Library, which opened in 2006.

Sovereign Bank, a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A., is a financial institution with principal markets in the northeastern United States and more than 700 branches.

For more about Madigan Library, e-mail , visit online or call 570-327-4523. For general information about Penn College, visit on the Web , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

For more information about grant-funding opportunities, faculty and staff may contact the Grants and Contracts Office at ext. 7562 or through its Web portal.