Queens Library’s Literacy Zone Welcome Center in Long Island City recently opened its arms and doors to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, chair of the Cultural Affairs, Libraries & International Intergroup Relations Committee, and Reverend Mitchell Taylor of the East River Development Alliance.
During their visit, the leaders had the opportunity to talk with some of the students, who had made piñatas. The Literacy Zone Welcome Center offers adult literacy, classes in English as a Second Language and family literacy programs. At the Welcome Center, Queens Library officials assist with referrals in other areas of library customers’ lives: health care, housing problems, social services, tax services.
The Queens Library is the only public library to be a lead agency on this kind of project. Specially trained, dedicated outreach staff and counselors meet with participants and decipher what areas they need assistance with. One of the main focuses of the agenda is eliminating the barriers that keep people from enriching their lives, whether that means improving English-language conversation or getting a hearing aid, or simply learning how to navigate the bureaucracy to access help.
The Literacy Zone Welcome Center is funded by a grant from the New York State Education Department, to help improve the economic futures for the residents of LIC/Astoria by helping them to improve their educations and job skills.
