“Imagine a future where all Pennsylvania public, special, academic and school libraries unite in a shared vision of helping residents succeed as citizens, parents, students, employers, employees and consumers. This is the goal of The Pennsylvania Library Association’s PA Forward initiative.

“PA Forward was conceived to give voice to what the library community already knows: With the right support, libraries are ideally positioned to become the community centers of information, technology and learning that will fuel educational and economic opportunity for all of our citizens.” –Pennsylvania Library Association

Mt. Lebanon Public Library is a proud member of the Pennsylvania Library Association, and we are currently participating in the PA Forward Star Library Program. The Star Library Program not only gives libraries a unified voice in marketing our services to the public and to legislators, it also promotes five skill areas that every library offers their patrons opportunities to develop: Basic Literacy, Civic and Social Literacy, Financial Literacy, Health Literacy, and Information Literacy.

At Mt. Lebanon Public Library, we offer programs, services, and materials in each of these areas. We provide opportunities for community conversations, small business skill development, career development, one-on-one technology help, and ESL classes. We offer databases that provide access to the Great Courses series, allow you to learn different languages, or download legal forms. We bring in skilled instructors for dynamic presentations and partner with the Osher Institute for exciting learning opportunities.

By sharing our accomplishments and offerings through the PA Forward Star Library program, we lend our voice to a large collective of strong libraries throughout Pennsylvania. We help to promote library funding at the local, state, and federal levels. We raise awareness to the wonderful things that libraries already offer our patrons, and take part in an exciting dialogue about what is possible.

Look for the PA Forward Star Library logo on our program flyers and website, and know that we are working hard to provide the best possible service for our patrons, here and throughout Pennsylvania. The gold star is in sight, but we will continue to reach for the stars even after it is earned.

“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” –Mother Theresa