PENNSYLVANIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK BY HIGHLIGTING LIBRARIES REACHING FOR THE STARS – April 4, 2024

Pennsylvania Library Association recognizes libraries for PA Forward^® Star achievements earned between March 31, 2023 and March 31,2024

Mechanicsburg, PA (April 4, 2024) – April 7-13, 2024 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the essential role libraries, librarians and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening communities.  In honor of this week, the Pennsylvania Library Association is announcing the 2023-2024 PA Forward® Star Library awardees showcasing libraries who are committed to providing quality literacy programming to their communities.

The theme for this year’s National Library Week is “Ready, set, library!” and Pennsylvania’s libraries encourage everyone in the community to visit their local library to take part in the festivities and explore all the library has to offer.

Libraries give us a green light to experience something truly special: a place to connect with others, learn new skills, and pursue our passions through book clubs, Storytimes, movie nights, crafting classes, lectures, and more. Pennsylvania’s Libraries offer a wide array of programs, classes, and resources, including The POWERLibrary a collection of tools which library users can access from home with a card from their local library.

And libraries play a pivotal role in economic development by providing resources and support for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.  Libraries help families to save money by providing materials and collections available to them that they would never be able to afford on their own.  Remember that getting your library card is a financially literate action.

No matter where you find yourself on the roadmap through life’s journey—preparing for a new career, launching a business, raising a family, or settling into retirement— Pennsylvania’s libraries offer the resources and support you need and an inclusive and supportive community where you will feel welcome.

So, get ready to explore, become inspired, and connect with others this National Library Week. Pennsylvania’s libraries are there for you, all the way to the finish line.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries of all types across the country each April.

“Yes, you can go to your local library and check out books, but these agile institutions demonstrate day in and day out they offer more than books,” Buker added. “Libraries offer the world to those who enter their doors. It is an honor during this year’s National Library Week to highlight those efforts with the PA Forward® Star Library designation. Congratulations to all of our participating Star Libraries.”   

PA Forward®, which launched statewide in 2012, works through five key literacies – Basic, Information, Civic & Social, Health and Financial – to assist individuals in enhancing their overall quality of life. To continue helping libraries use PA Forward® to demonstrate all their libraries offer, in January 2017, the Association kicked off the Star Library program statewide. The Star Library recognition offers support to libraries who participate and integrate PA Forward®’s literacies in their programming activities. Program topics can include information such as retirement planning (financial literacy) to more physically active programs such as walking book club discussions (civic and social literacy and health literacy).

Libraries are recognized by their peers for meeting benchmarks within the bronze, silver, and gold star levels of the program. While one star is awarded for both the bronze and gold levels, a total of five stars are awarded in the silver category – one silver star for each of the five literacies of PA Forward®. For each silver star award, a number appears denoting the number of silver stars obtained to date.

Stars are awarded on a quarterly basis in the calendar year and the recognition is for the highest level attained in the program at the time of the award. The libraries noted below are those that earned a first-time star or a new star level between March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2024.

For more information about the Star Library Program, visit https://paforward.org/pa-forward-star-program/.

The next round of awards will be announced after July 29, 2024.

The list of awardees, by county, follows:

Adams County

Adams County Library System – Silver

Allegheny County

Avalon County Library – Silver

Baldwin Borough Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Brentwood Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Bethel Park Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Brendtwood Library – Gold, Maintenance

Bridgeville Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Carnegie Library of Homestead – Gold

Community Library of Castle Shannon – Gold, Maintenance

Jefferson Hills Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Monroeville Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Northern Tier Regional Library – Gold

Northland Public Library Authority – Gold, Maintenance

Oakmont Carnegie Library – Gold, Maintenance

Sewickley Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

South Fayette Township Library – Gold, Maintenance

South Park Township Library – Gold, Maintenance

Upper St. Clair Township Library – Gold, Maintenance

Western Allegheny Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Armstron County

Ford City Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Berks County

Bernville Area Library – Gold, Maintenance

Brandywine Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Hamburg Public Library – Bronze

Kutztown Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Fleetwood Area Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Mifflin Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Muhlenberg Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Reading Public Library – Gold, Maintenance      

Village Library of Morgantown – Gold, Maintenance

Wernersville Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Blair County

Altoona Area Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Tyrone-Snyder Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Bucks County

Free Library of Northampton Township – Gold, Maintenance

Margaret R. Grundy Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Warminster Township Free Library – Gold, Maintenance

Butler County

Butler Area Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Zelienople Area Public Library – Gold

Cambria County

Cambria County Library – Gold, Maintenance

Carrolltown Public Library – Silver

Centre County

Centre Hall Area Branch – Gold, Maintenance

Centre County Library and Historical Museum – Gold, Maintenance

Holt Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Penn State University Park Library – Silver                                          

Chester County

Atglen Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Chester County Library – Gold, Maintenance

Henrietta Hankin Public Library – Bronze

Tredyffrin Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Clarion County

Knox Public Library Gold, Maintenance

Clinton County

Annie Halenbake Ross Library – Gold, Maintenance

Cumberland County

Bosler Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Cleve J. Fredricksen Library – Gold, Maintenance

Ezra Lehman Memorial Library, Shippensburg University – Gold, Maintenance

Dauphin County

Penn State Harrisburg Library – Gold, Maintenance

Delaware County

Haverford Township Free Library – Gold, Maintenance

Lansdowne Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Marple Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Yeadon Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Erie County

Erie County Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Fayette County

Carnegie Free Library of Connellsville – Gold, Maintenance

German-Masontown Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Penn State University Library, Fayette – Gold, Maintenance

Franklin County

Alexander Hamilton Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Grove Family Library – Gold, Maintenance

Fulton County

Fulton County Library – Gold, Maintenance

Greene County

Eva K. Bowlby Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Indiana County

Indiana Free Library – Gold, Maintenance

Jefferson County

Mengle Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Lackawanna County

Abington Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Carbondale Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Dalton Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Nancy Kay Holmes Branch Library – Gold, Maintenance

Scranton Public Library (Albright Memorial Library) Gold, Maintenance

Taylor Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Valley Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Lancaster County

Adamstown Area Library – Gold, Maintenance

Eastern Lancaster County Library – Gold, Maintenance

Ephrata Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Manheim Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Quarryville Library Center – Silver

Lawrence County

New Castle Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Lebanon County

Matthews Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Myerstown Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Palmyra Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Lehigh County

Emmaus Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Lower Macungie Library – Gold, Maintenance

Parkland Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Luzerne County

Hazelton Area Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Osterhaut Free Library – Gold, Maintenance

Pittston Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Lycoming County

James V. Brown Library – Gold, Maintenance

Mercer County

Community Library of the Shenango Valley – Gold, Maintenance

Monroe County

Western Pocono Community Library – Bronze

Montgomery County

Abington Township Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Ardmore Library – Gold, Maintenance

Bala Cynwyd Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Conshohocken Free Library – Bronze

Free Library of Springfield Township – Gold, Maintenance

Gladwyne Free Library – Gold

Huntingdon Valley Library  – Gold, Maintenance

Lower Providence Community  Library – Silver

Ludington Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

North Wales Area Library – Gold, Maintenance

Pottstown Regional Public Library – Gold

Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn College – Gold, Maintenance

William Jeanes Memorial Library – Gold

Northampton County

Easton Area Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity – Gold, Maintenance

Northampton Area Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Northumberland County

John R. Kauffman Jr. Public Library, Degenstein Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Potter County

Genessee Area Library – Gold, Maintenance

Pike County

Pike County Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Somerset County

Somerset County Library – Gold, Maintenance

Tioga County

Green Free – Gold, Maintenance

Washington County

Chartiers-Houston Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Citizen Library – Gold, Maintenance

Peters Township Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Wyoming County

Tunkhannock Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

York County

Collinsville Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Dover Area Community Library – Bronze

Kreutz Creak Library – Bronze

Martin Memorial Library – Gold, Maintenance

Guthrie Memorial Library ~ Hanover’s Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Paul Smith Library of Southern York County – Gold, Maintenance

Red Land Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Village Library – Bronze

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This project is made possible, in part, by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, Governor.