The first of three panel discussions on the topic of Community Needs for Library Services was held on February 25, 2015 at the Carlisle Area School District.  More than 90 people attended, including County Commissioners and Library System Board members.  Experts from the United Way of the Capital Region, United Way of Carlisle and Cumberland County, AARP, Shippensburg University, Tri County Community Action and the Pennsylvania Library Association identified six areas of critical need that Cumberland County’s libraries should address:

1. Help prepare very young children to be ready for school and support children’s learning needs so that they are able to graduate successfully from high school.
2. Provide more programs and resources for the county’s growing elderly population.
3. Provide greater library access and support to the growing numbers of people in Cumberland County who are living in poverty.
4. Provide resources and programs to address five essential literacies: basic, information, financial, health and civic/social.
5. Provide access to information technology, especially the Internet.
6. Provide community meeting and gathering spaces.

Meeting materials included:

• YouTube video recording of February 25, 2015 session (YouTube, 1 hour 45 minutes)
• Community Needs for Library Services: Panel Discussion Program (PDF, 8 pages)
• PowerPoint Slides for Community Needs for Library Services Panel Discussion (PDF, 6 pages)
• Cumberland County Library System Services Report (PDF, 7 pages)
• PA Forward | Pennsylvania Libraries Handout (PDF, 7 pages)
• Carlisle Sentinel news coverage, 2/26/2015