PENNSYLVANIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES THE POWER OF OUR STATEWIDE PARTNERSHIPS BY ANNOUNCING STAR LIBRARY HONOREES – July 12, 2022

Pennsylvania Library Association recognizes libraries for PA Forward® Star achievements earned between April 1 and June 30, 2022 –

Mechanicsburg, PA (July 12, 2022) – Last week the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a budget that makes the largest investment in libraries in more than 14 years. This investment will be used by libraries to increase the impact they make in their communities and to increase the functional skills necessary for our residents to be successful in a 21st Century society.

Libraires throughout the Commonwealth partner with community organizations to bring quality programming into the libraries and made freely available to all residents. These partnerships provide a platform for experts to share their skills with others and the residents are able to be introduced to concepts by experts which will improve their lives, increase their health, understand their neighbors, and grow their financial capabilities.

Libraries of all types continue to go above and beyond to keep their communities connected by expanding resources and embracing inclusion in their programming, resources, and collections. Some of those libraries are being recognized for their accomplishments this quarter in using literacy programming in a high quality manner by being awarded a PA Forward® Star from the Pennsylvania Library Association.

Libraries across Pennsylvania are making a difference in people’s lives by providing electronic learning resources like online homework help and wi-fi access for students and workers who may lack internet access at home.

“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 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.

The libraries noted below are those that earned a first-time star or a new star level between April 1 and June 30, 2022. 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 October 6, 2022.

The list of awardees, by county, follows:

Adams County
Adams County Library System – Silver

Allegheny County
Mt. Lebanon Community Library – Gold, Maintenance
Western Allegheny Community Library- Gold, Maintenance
Northern Tier Regional Library – Silver

Armstrong County
Ford City Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Berks County
Wernersville Public Library – Gold
Kutztown Community Library – Gold, Maintenance
Mifflin Community Library – Gold, Maintenance
Womelsdorf Community Library – Silver

Bucks County
Altoona Public Library – Gold, Maintenance
Bucks County
Free Library of Northampton Township – Gold Star Maintenance

Centre County
Holt Memorial Library – Gold
Penn State – University Park Library – Silver

Chester County
Kennett Library – Gold
Chester Springs Library – Silver
Henrietta Hankin Branch Library – Bronze

Clinton County
Anne Halenbake Ross Library – Gold, Mainteance

Delaware County
Marple Public Library – Gold, Maintenance

Franklin County
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library – Gold, Maintenance
Lancaster County
Manheim Township Public Library – Gold

Lackawanna County
Taylor Community Library – Gold, Maintenance

Montgomery County
Huntingdon Valley Library – Gold, Maintenance
Free Library of Springfield Township – Gold, Maintenance
William Jeanes Memorial Library – Silver
Penn State – Abington Library – Bronze

Somerset County
Somerset County Library
Beginning January 2020, once a library achieves the Gold level of the PA Forward® Star Library program, libraries will now be able to take steps to maintain their PA Forward® Gold Star status. More information about that process, can be found at www.paforwardstarlibraries.org under the Getting Started tab.

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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, Tom Wolf, Governor.