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Adams County Library director highlights literacy gains and offers expanded school partnerships
Summary
Adams County Library System Director Miranda Wiser told the Gettysburg Area School District board that fourth‑grade reading exceeds the state average and that 35% of the library system’s annual circulation comes from district families; she offered expanded partnerships including Sora e‑resources and summer programming to combat the 'summer slide'.
Miranda Wiser, executive director of the Adams County Library System, briefed the Gettysburg Area School District board on June 15 about library programs supporting early literacy and offered tools to strengthen school‑district partnerships.
Wiser told trustees that district results show strong reading performance: "the scores exceed the state average with one out of two fourth graders reading at or above grade level," a milestone she said matters because fourth grade marks the shift from learning to read to reading to learn.
Wiser described the library’s outreach: the system circulates roughly 450,000 items a year and "35% of our circulation occurs in this school district," she said, noting weekly preschool programs, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (mailing one free book per month to ages 0–5) and the A Thousand Things Before Kindergarten initiative to support school readiness.
To address summer learning loss, Wiser described the "Summer Quest" program that brings library services into the community when school is out, and said participation this year reached record highs. She also promoted Sora, a student‑friendly portal to the library’s ebooks and audiobooks that includes content controls intended for classroom use and can be accessed on students’ Chromebooks.
Board reaction and next steps: Trustees thanked Wiser for the presentation and asked questions about recent community events (including a library funfest). The board packet included additional information about the Pennsylvania Forward Initiative recognition the library earned and ways schools can partner to distribute library cards and integrate Sora; administration said it will follow up on possible classroom and school‑level implementations.
Context: Wiser emphasized that early and continued library engagement supports literacy before children enter kindergarten and contributes to long‑term academic success. The library’s programs—including mailed books for very young children and in‑school visits—are positioned as complements to district efforts to sustain reading proficiency.
