New York Libraries’ Adult English Programs Face Cuts

Link to May 30 New York Times article.

Excerpt: The New York Public Library is one of many providers of free English classes in New York City. The Queens and Brooklyn Public Libraries offer them, as do the New York City Department of Education, the City University of New York, and various nonprofit community groups. Even so, the need for instruction in English still seems to outpace the supply.

Registration takes place three times a year for the New York Public Library’s classes, which are offered on evenings and Saturdays in neighborhoods throughout Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Typically, many more people show up than there are spots available, and hundreds have to be turned away. (Spots are distributed by a lottery.)

Now, with the library facing a possible $37 million budget cut, even fewer people may be able to take classes next year. If the cuts go through, the library says that in addition to closing 10 branches and cutting service across the system to four days from six, it will have to cut the number of English language classes it offers from 117 to 48, and the number of spots from roughly 3,000 to less than 1,300. The Brooklyn and Queens library systems are facing similar financing cuts that threaten their English classes as well.

“They’re incredibly valuable and incredibly popular,” Councilman James G. Van Bramer said of the classes offered across the city. Mr. Van Bramer, who heads the committee of the Council that oversees libraries and is a former executive of the Queens Public Library, said many people who cannot get into the classes are “unable to get into the job market.”