Public Library of Yo and Mahoning Cty

The 2022 summer discovery program focused on encouraging literacy and learning during the summer months to prevent the "summer slide" of skills, particularly reading, that can occur in school age children who aren't in a formal learning environment during those months. Participants of all ages were challenged to complete reading activities and engage with their community through Library and community activities. Learning activities varied by age level and were correlated to Ohio department of education content standards. For example, activities like having a dance party and reading a book about dancing encompassed the standards for social emotional development and language and literacy development. A Free book and other incentives were awarded to those who earned daily points for their reading or activities. Additionally, programs were scheduled to engage the Public in continued learning opportunities and community connection opportunities. Programs are selected to support the summer discovery theme and many are presented by subject area experts or entertainers from outside of our system. We had several programs that were available all summer long to help engage youth, teens, and adults in exploring science concepts, reading, and social connection. The grand finale was an author visit for youth with author jerry pallotta. The 2022 summer discovery program focused on helping readers achieve the completion goal and we saw a strong increase from our 2021 finisher numbers, with a 10% increase in 2022. We had over 2,000 participants in the program and over 2,000 people attended the over 200 in-person programs held in the summer. We also engaged with over 4,650 people at the 140 different outreach events associated with summer discovery.

The pandemic continued to impact our program offerings. We still had some time without in-person programs and we did require masking for portions of this year. Due to these restrictions and lingering high community transmission of covid-19, some of our usual programming did not happen. Other programs that were previously adapted for outdoor participation continued through this year. These programs included outdoor fitness programs, story times at the park, and story trails for self-guided enjoyment. Other programs, such as our early literacy story times, maker space events, and hands-on steam learning were hosted with masking and limited attendance for portions of the year. Staff continued to use the trainings received on connected learning strategies to connect Library users with content that interests them and opportunities for furthering those interests to support themselves or our community. Some of these connected learning opportunities were focused on developing financial literacy skills to meet new school requirements in Ohio. We partnered with children's hunger alliance to participate in the federal lunch program to support children in need in our communities. We partnered with local schools to continue to provide virtual learning opportunities, book recommendations, and database support. Students could receive digital or student cards to make borrowing materials easier and participating in programs simpler. While the pandemic's continuation made traditional learning programs a challenge, our staff adapted and provided a variety of options to ensure that our community continued to learn and connect in whatever manner felt most comfortable for them.

The Library provides quality, comprehensive Public Library service to the residents of Mahoning county through our 15 locations. Mahoning county has 228,150 residents and 117,985 are registered borrowers. For many residents, the Public Library is their only source of computers, internet, and/or wi-fi. The Library provides a large number of learning programs, homework support, business development and workforce support, and reference work in our buildings and through our website. We also have a large collection of books, music, movies, and other materials for circulation both in print and online available to our cardholders. Our traveling outreach team provides "pop-up" Library service and collections off-site to various sectors of the community including schools, parks, and other community gathering locations. Our special delivery provides service to the homebound and elderly.

Other program services.