PA Forward

What is PA Forward?

“The Pennsylvania Library Association’s 21st Century Literacy Initiative, PA Forward, was conceived to give voice to what the library community already knows, and what other states throughout the nation are also recognizing: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. Libraries have moved far beyond just being book repositories. They’re agile institutions serving real-life needs.” – Pennsylvania Library Association.

How is the Hershey Public library powering progress in the community?

It is committed to providing year round services and programs for children, teens and adults to help build types of knowledge essential to success: Basic Literacy, Information Literacy, Civic and Social Literacy, Health Literacy, and Financial Literacy.

In December 2018, the Hershey Public Library achieved the highest level, the Gold Star library status, with the Pennsylvania Library Association in the PA Forward Star Program for successfully demonstrating that our programs and services support the 5 literacies needed to be successful in the 21st century. The five literacies include Financial, Civic & Social, Basic, Health, and Information.