Queens Gazette

Verizon Funds Library Literacy Program





The Verizon Foundation recently donated $15,000 to purchase computers for the Queens Borough Public Library Adult Learner Program. The Verizon grant will fund Laptops for Literacy-a mobile laptop lab to use in the Central Library’s Adult Learning Center. The laptops will enhance and expand the availability of the self-study software that supports the library’s ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and adult literacy offerings.

The library has the largest library-based adult literacy program in the United States and is widely recognized for its success in the literacy field. Each year the library’s programs have a registration of approximately 8,000 English-speaking adults who want to improve their basic reading and writing skills and immigrants who want to improve their reading and conversation in English.

The Verizon Foundation’s philanthropic mission is to foster relationships and partnerships that address social and economic needs in America’s diverse communities. They invest in and partner with organizations that focus on literacy and education initiatives, technology and work force development programs, and domestic violence solutions. Basic and computer literacy is one of Verizon Foundation’s major funding priorities due to its enormous impact on education, health, economic development and the digital divide. Illiteracy affects people with disabilities, minorities and immigrants, especially those who speak English as a second language. In total, over 40 million Americans are functionally illiterate.

The Queens Borough Public Library serves a population of more than two million in the most ethnically diverse county in the United States. With 16.9 million items in circulation and 15.8 million visitors for Fiscal Year 2003, the library continues to have the highest circulation of any public library system in the country. For more information about library programs, services, locations, events and news, visit www.queenslibrary.org or call 718-990-0700.




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