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September 15, 2008
Grants designated to fund literacy programs
Courier-Post Online
TRENTON —The New Jersey State Library is awarding a total of $195,686 in literacy grants to 13 public libraries in the state. The literacy grants are awarded on a competitive basis to help local libraries develop and sustain programs that address literacy needs in New Jersey communities. Two of those programs are in Central Jersey.
The grants program is designed to assist public libraries in starting, strengthening or expanding programs in areas such as family literacy, financial literacy for immigrants or teens, English as a Second Language and English for speakers of other languages.
The funded programs may involve one-on-one or group literacy instruction, but the main factors the State Library considered in awarding the grants included pilot projects that demonstrate innovation and a local commitment to sustain funding for the project beyond the state grant period. The State Library sought projects which can serve as models for other libraries to replicate. It also gave preference to projects in which the local library is directly involved in running the program.
These literacy programs are made possible in whole or in part by a Literacy Grant from the New Jersey State Library, an affiliate of Thomas Edison State College, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act.
The Bernardsville Public Library received $7,583 to complement the library’s current literacy program and encourage tutors of English Language Learners, as well as ESL adults and parents of young children, to make use of a variety of available recorded library materials which promote the practice of listening to books to expand vocabulary, improve comprehension, improve fluency and enhance conversational proficiency by building confidence. The grant will help the library provide a readily accessible collection of quality recorded materials in a variety of formats that specifically address the needs and educational levels of the library’s existing literacy students.
Plainfield Public Library received $20,000 to help fund a Literacy Liaison project
in collaboration with public libraries in Cranford, Elizabeth, Rahway, Roselle Park and the Literacy Volunteers of Union County. As the need for adult services continues to grow in these towns, available resources to provide such services continues to decrease.
Partner libraries would choose a Literacy Liaison from each library to work with Literacy Volunteers to improve literacy services at each site, increase visibility of adult literacy services, maximize volunteer recruitment, launch a visually impactful recruitment campaign for volunteers and literacy awareness, identify additional areas for collaboration and continue to provide free tutoring for adult learners who wish to improve their basic literacy or ESOL skills.
Posted by tumulty at September 15, 2008 10:40 AM
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