‘Gold Star’ awarded to county library
The Pennsylvania Library Association has announced that Chester County Library has been recognized as a Gold Star Library.
Libraries across Pennsylvania continue showcasing the value they bring to their communities by providing programs and resources which positively support the patrons served and have earned Star Library status in the process.
To achieve the Gold Star designation, the library — which has main branches in West Whiteland and West Vincent and cooperates with local libraries across the county — had to demonstrate a commitment to help citizens improve their quality of life and achieve greater success in all vital roles of life — as students, as parents, as employees, as consumers, as citizen — and providing programs to enhance five identified types of knowledge essential to success: basic, information, civic and social, health and financial.
The award program PA Forward, 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 state library association kicked off the “Star Library” program statewide. The recognition offers support to libraries who participate and integrate PA Forward’s literacies in their programming activities.
Those libraries are recognized 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.
“We are honored to be able to highlight Chester County Library’s work and help all residents connect more with this community pillar,” said Christi Buker, Pennsylvania Library Association executive director. “These awards signify intentional investments by library staff to offer programs and resources that correlate to direct investments in the community.”
A community member coming to the library to access a computer and the internet, to submit an online job application, or an individual coming to the library to participate in a program that helps them care for an ailing parent are examples of customers whose lives have been changed, positively, because of the offerings at their local library.
“The Star Library Program allows us to put a spotlight on how libraries are moving Pennsylvania forward,” Buker added.
For more information, including a complete listing of all libraries participating in the program, visit www.paforwardstarlibraries.org.