A 40-Year Commitment to Seniors: Cumberland County's STAR Program

As a full-time librarian and housewife, I rarely find the energy to volunteer within my community. But over the years, when I come across a once-and-done opportunity, I especially enjoy helping senior citizens. One of my favorite organizations is Love for Our Elders, which combats social isolation by enabling people to write encouraging letters to senior citizens who sign up to receive them. Through LfOE, I've connected with people from all over the U.S. and all walks of life. The joy that short, upbeat notes can bring to others is a testament to the power of the written word.

This week while I was conducting research at the Cumberland County Library System, I learned about STAR, an outreach program that is another great example of how reading can help older people thrive. Instead of letters through the mail, STAR provides library materials, via "mini-libraries" of large print books installed in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, elder apartment complexes, and other sites. STAR also hand-delivers items to seniors who are homebound. 

In 1987, when CCLS established STAR, such efforts weren't new. Large public libraries in Boston, Cleveland, and New York had been serving senior citizens for decades. However, President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty (mid-late 1960s) and the 1961 and 1971 White House Conferences on Aging helped to revive librarians' interest in elderly customers. When the National Commission on Library and Information Service (the forerunner to today's IMLS) was established in 1970, services to aging Americans was one of its areas of focus. Through NCLIS's advocacy, the Older Americans Act was broadened to enable libraries to contract with local agencies to provide resources to seniors. 

Pennsylvania's population of senior citizens grew rapidly in the 1960s-1980s, so they were a concern at the state level, too. The Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) organized a Committee on Library Service to the Aging no later than 1960, and various public libraries in the Commonwealth used federal funds, private grants, and other resources to develop innovative programs. According to a 1974 study by Peter Manakos, at least 5 county library systems and district library centers in Pennsylvania were loaning collections, delivering books by mail, showing movies at housing complexes, and/or providing public programs on gerontological health,  Social Security, and other relevant topics. PaLA's Bulletin, as well as national publications like American Libraries, Library Journal, and Wilson Library Bulletin, frequently published articles about library efforts to reaching aging residents.

While Cumberland County's population has generally been younger, on average, than the rest of the state's, the number of senior citizens living there has grown. As of 1980, CCLS staff had determined that almost 11% of their service population was over age 65. There were even higher concentrations in Camp Hill (20%) and Shippensburg (15%). Because CCLS was a federated system, its 7 libraries varied significantly in collections, staff expertise, and outreach efforts for older patrons. For example, 2 CCLS libraries had no large print materials at all. After consulting with libraries in Chester and Lancaster Counties -- two other southcentral Pennsylvania counties with similar demographics -- CCLS librarians decided they needed a more coordinated approach to ensure that Cumberland's senior citizens were equitably served. The system's per-capita financial resources, however, were on the lower end within a state that was notorious for stingy public library support. 

Fortunately, money was available through the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), a federal program administered by the State Library of Pennsylvania. In 1987, CCLS won a $42,000 LSCA grant to establish "STAR," or "Services to Adult Readers." It hired a full-time coordinator, Judy R. Smoyer, to beef-up the library system's large print collections, devise a delivery service, develop outreach programs and marketing materials attractive to aged residents, and collaborate with other organizations in the region that were focused on elders' needs. During the first few months of the grant, Smoyer focused on book acquisitions and developing policies that were considerate toward seniors. Interestingly, in addition to popular fiction and nonfiction, CCLS acquired BiFokal multimedia kits, which contained prints, music, and other items that encouraged reminiscing and memory-sharing. 

In the library system's pre-Internet days, Smoyer often met with homebound patrons personally, learned about their interests, selected items she thought each person would enjoy, then utilized volunteers as couriers to and from people's homes. Given the logistics of serving aging and ill clients, CCLS offered STAR participants an extended (6-week) loan period and did not charge for overdue, lost, or damaged materials. After solidifying STAR's working procedures, Smoyer mounted a substantial publicity effort that involved distributing thousands of brochures to every CCLS library, as well as to Meals on Wheels programs, visiting nurse associations, and even eye doctors. She also placed notices in newspapers, municipal newsletters, and church flyers. By the end of the LSCA grant term, CCLS could boast a collection of 688 large print books and 311 books on cassette, distributed to 28 nursing homes, adult day cares, and other facilities. Smoyer had also recruited about 10 volunteers, serving more than 30 homebound customers, delivering 400-500 titles monthly. 

The front cover and inside of an early tri-fold promotional packet for STAR.
 In addition to a card that advertized CCLS's large print collection, the packet included a list of community agencies, and postcards that seniors could use to sign up for home book delivery.
 Image courtesy of Cumberland County Library System,
Administrative Office Vertical Files, folder "STAR Service"

In 1988, after the LSCA grant was completed, STAR could have sunseted, but CCLS's leadership didn't allow that to happen. While the library system couldn't afford to retain a full-time STAR coordinator, the project was assigned to Mary Linn Faries, CCLS's Coordinator of Adult Services, who managed it part-time alongside other responsibilities. After Faries resigned in October 1990, CCLS hired Nan Cavanaugh, who had been Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Literacy Council and had been active in the Trustees Division of PaLA. Though the library's records don't explicitly indicate it, one can surmise that Cavanaugh's community literacy activities and her experience with elderly trustees suited her well for STAR. Though documentation is spotty, it appears that Faries and Cavanaugh continued many of the policies and workaday procedures that Smoyer had established. 

Mary Linn Faries with unnamed STAR customers, 1988.
Photo courtesy of Cumberland County Library System

In my observation, many LSCA-funded outreach projects died on the vine as funding dwindled or new community needs emerged. However, CCLS continued to build from STAR's foundation. By 1995, the system offered 3,297 large print items and 1,365 books on cassette. Also, it was reaching 38 facilities and nearly 100 homebound residents -- about double the size of the initial 1987 program. Although connections with other agencies had been important from the beginning, it seems that collaboration especially flourished in late 1980s and early 1990s, when CCLS worked with Holy Spirit Hospital to provide a "Senior's Forum," a series of public programs targeting the over-60 crowd. The forums included a wide variety of topics -- not just Medicare, medication safety, nutrition, and spousal caregiving, but also programs on denture and dental implants, Elderhostel, fashion, financial planning, foot care, genealogical research, microwave cooking, and personal safety. 

Periodic newspaper coverage and the variety of recognitions that STAR has received over the past 4 decades help to document its impact on individual lives. For instance, a June 24, 1987 article in the Carlisle Sentinel included snippets from an interview with Ida Kline, an avid reader who relied on a walker that made it difficult for her to choose her own books from library shelves. In talking with the reporter, she noted the connection between library resources and ongoing civil engagement: "It's important for older people to read a lot to extend what the Good Lord gave them. We need to understand how the world is changing and how kids are changing, and not be narrow in our views." Internal documents, likely compiled by Nan Cavanaugh, show that Cavanaugh interacted with some other memorable (though unnamed) clients, as well. As of the mid-1990s, STAR was serving an 87-year-old farmer from Shippensburg who enjoyed listening to books on tape -- especially anything to do with Winston Churchill. The program also reached a 72-year-old woman in Carlisle who was undergoing chemotherapy and read adventure novels late into the night when she had trouble sleeping. 

Some of STAR's volunteers were long-lasting, too. One notable one was Helen James, who was hailed as "The Library Lady" at Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She had been volunteering at Carlisle Hospital, then took on an added role with CCLS in April 1989. She served in STAR for more than 10 years until she and her husband relocated to the Pittsburgh area. Cavanaugh estimated that James interacted with thousands of seniors during her decade of service, and the CCLS board issued James a special proclamation to thank her for her efforts. It is due to the dedication of CCLS staff like Cavanaugh and volunteers such as James, that the library system's STAR web site proudly lists awards, including from the Pennsylvania Leadership Council of the AARP (1996), the Central Pennsylvania Optometric Society (2002), the Pennsylvania Library Association (2006), and the National Association of Counties (2008). 

These days, when there is so much depressing news, it's refreshing and inspiring to learn about a long-lived, successful effort where neighbors have helped neighbors -- especially when it does something good for a population that too often gets neglected. CCLS's STAR program puts sparkles in many people's eyes, including mine!

For information about the history and surrounding context of STAR:

• "Cavanaugh is Named," West Shore Shopper, January 31, 1991. Clipping available in CCLS Scrapbook, 1988-1993.
• Cumberland County Library System, Administrative Office Vertical Files, folder "STAR Service" [includes LSCA grant application, LSCA quarterly reports, publicity, news coverage, and other documentation].
• Evans, Charmaine M., "The Library and the Senior Citizen," PLA Bulletin 26, no. 6 (November 1971): 315-325. 
• Fowler, Wade, "Cumberland Library to Offer Readers Special Services, [Harrisburg] Patriot-News, November 15, 1988. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1077588243/. 
• Hecht, James H. "Library Services to the Handicapped and Elderly," PLA Bulletin 32, no. 3 (May 1977): 55, 66. 
• Jacobsen, Cyndi, "Home Delivery Lending Program," [Carlisle] Sentinel, June 24, 1987. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/345684813. 
• Javelin, Muriel C., "How Library Service to the Aging Has Developed," Library Trends 21, no 3 (January 1973): 367-389.
• Javelin, Muriel C., "Services to the Senior Citizen," American Libraries 1, no. 2 (February 1970): 133-137.
• Manakos, Peter G., "Promoting Library Services for the Elderly," PLA Bulletin 29, no. 4 (July 1974): 155-157. 
• Miller, Matt, "Cumberland County Cites 'Library Lady,'" [Harrisburg] Patriot-News, December 21, 1999. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1078962973/. 
• Matt Miller, "Library Volunteers Hit the Road for Senior Citizens, [Harrisburg] Patriot-News, June 2, 1987. Clipping available in CCLS Scrapbook, 1988-1993.
• Moore, Bessie Boehm and Christina Carr Young, "Library/Information Services and the Nation's Elderly," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 36, no. 6 (November 1985): 364–368. 
• Phinney, Eleanor, "Trends in Library Services to the Aging," ALA Bulletin 53, no. 6 (June 1959): 534-535, 539. 
• "STAR Recognized for Its Service," [Carlisle] Sentinel, May 30, 2002. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/344108752/.