I have walked by the library hundreds of times over the past three years, but it wasn’t until last week that I looked down in front of the entrance on Curtin Road to find dozens of bricks with different messages engraved on them.

I probably caused a traffic jam as I stopped to read each one. Some were simply engraved with family names. Others gave encouraging messages. Some were just plain weird.

Take a look at some of the best bricks outside of the library:

One of the first bricks I saw featured this poem. Thank you, Russ and Sue Anne Graham, for supplying such entertainment. I have two questions, however. Why did you have 179 cartons of books… and what did you do with them?

How wholesome! I feel like this is the type of encouragement I would need as I walk into the library to study for an exam I’m totally going to fail.

I suppose at the end of the day, maybe we really are just bricks in the wall.

Whether it be 1965 or 2022, frat boys have always been about one thing: the boys.

Another great poem! Who knew so many poets donated to the Penn State Libraries?

Nothing says “409 forever” quite like a brick dedicated to Joe and Sue Paterno outside of the Paterno Library.

Last, but certainly not least, here is my favorite brick.

This brick was the first one to catch my attention and make me laugh. Thank you, Greg, for the chuckle.