New York Public Library to Greatly Expand After-School Programs, ESOL Classes, and Tech Training Programs

SEPTEMBER 22 -- The New York Public Library is expanding its educational initiatives this fall, offering increased access to free, quality after-school programs, adult learning classes, and technology training programs.

The Library will increase the number of seats in its  after-school programs by about 60 percent, as well as increase the number of adult ESOL class slots by 15 percent and the number of technology training class participants by 20 percent in Fiscal Year 2015 as compared to the year prior.  

The important expansion comes after the city – for the first time in six years – provided the city’s three public library systems with an increase in operational funding. The New York Public Library received a $4.4 million increase, which is being used to expand and hire staff for educational programs, and to hire 18 librarians, primarily in the children’s and young adult specialty areas.

“It is the Library’s mission to provide all New Yorkers with access to opportunity and knowledge, and these initiatives – including the addition of critical staff for children and teens – certainly accomplish that,” said NYPL President Tony Marx. “We are so grateful to the city for investing in libraries, and seeing the value in these critically important programs, which were piloted with private funding and help better our patrons and their communities.”

Specifically, in Fiscal Year 2015, the Library will offer:

• “Out of School Time” after-school program seats at 25 neighborhood libraries, up from 15 last fiscal year.
• About 9,000 ESOL class seats at 34 neighborhood libraries – a 15 percent increase in capacity. Additionally, the Library is expanding “drop-in” ESOL classes into six new branches: Webster, 67th Street, Hamilton Grange, Riverdale, Todt Hill-Westerleigh, and Jerome Park.
• New advanced “TechConnect” technology training courses at branches in Harlem, midtown Manhattan, and the central Bronx, including an eight-week computer programming and coding course that teaches HTML and CSS. Tech labs are now available at 18 branches – including a state-of-the-art Mac lab at Mid- Manhattan – with courses offered at many more. The total capacity for students in these training courses is over 100,000.

Some of these programs require registration, others are drop-in programs at neighborhood branches. Those interested in these and all of the Library’s offerings should log on to nypl.org or call 917-ASK-NYPL for more information.

Contact:

Angela Montefinise | angelamontefinise@nypl.org

About The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.