Carnegie Corporation of New York Awarded the Newark Public Library Foundation a $1 Million Grant to Support Family Literacy, Digitize Historic Materials and Stimulate Future Fundraising Efforts
The grant will enable the Library to digitize its collections related to the Great Migration of African Americans and the Latino Immigration Experience, and to increase the accessibility of these collections in library branches, schools and homes. The grant will also facilitate the development of family literacy initiatives and support the Library’s future fundraising efforts.
One-third of Newark city residents live below poverty guidelines, 52 percent of its adult population are illiterate and 44 percent speak a language other than English at home, according to Newark Public Library Board President, Timothy Crist. “This tremendous grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York will help Newark families develop reading skills using materials relevant to their own family experiences and aid them in achieving educational goals,” said Crist.
“Our Founder, Andrew Carnegie, believed that a library outranks any one thing a community can do to benefit its people. In the case of the Newark Public Library, we couldn’t agree more,” said Vartan Gregorian, President and CEO of Carnegie Corporation of New York. “This grant will empower the Library to expand the remarkable work it is doing to improve family literacy.”
Media Coverage:
NJ.com: $1M Digitalization Grant Aims to Improve Literacy in Newark
Wall Street Journal: Newark Public Library Foundation Gets $1 Million Grant
About the Newark Public Library
Since 1888, the Newark Public Library has been an anchor institution in Newark. It is New Jersey’s most comprehensive public library, serving nearly 10,000 patrons per week and providing equal access for all to vast educational, cultural, literary, historical and digital resources. Through its Main Library and seven branches, the Newark Public Library provides residents of Newark with reference help for job searches and accessing social services, ESL and computer classes, and family literacy programs. It also contains the Hispanic Research Information Center, the New Jersey Information Center and James Brown African American Room. To learn about how to become involved with the Newark Public Library, please visit: npl.org/about-the-library/get-involved/.
More like this
