We are proud to announce that both the ESL Book Club and the annual teen gallery exhibition "Reduce, Reuse, Remake," will be recognized by the Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council as award-winning programs at the annual conference in October 2022. 

The English as a Second Language (ESL) Book Club has won the PaLA, PA Forward Best Practices award in Adult Basic Literacy. This award recognizes the program for its goal to build community connections and increase comprehension and pronunciation skills in our community. Each meeting lasts for 30 minutes, and participants take turns reading passages from a book.

Incredibly, within the same year, the adult & teen services team and our partners, the art teachers in the middle and high schools of the State College Area School District (SCASD), won the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, Humanities in Action Award. The award recognizes the annual student art exhibition entitled “Reduce, Reuse, Remake.” This exhibition provides students a community platform to express their creativity, while learning critical visual and civic literacy skills. “Reduce, Reuse, Remake,” has been coordinated by Schlow staff and directed by art teachers at Mount Nittany Middle, Park Forest Middle, Delta Program Middle and High, and State College Area High Schools since 2018.

Each award presents Schlow staff with the opportunity to share the programs developed locally with library colleagues statewide. "We couldn't be prouder of our staff and partners and are grateful for the chance to highlight the tremendous community of learners here in the Centre Region," said Maria Burchill, Head of Adult & Teen Services. "These programs wouldn't be possible without the interest and support of our patrons."