Danbury Library to offer free ESL Courses with $10,000 American Dream Literacy Grant

Danbury Library has been selected as one of 20 public libraries nationwide to receive a $10,000 American Dream Literacy Initiative grant from the American Library Association (ALA) and Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

With the funding, Danbury Library will offer free, beginner-level English courses for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

“One of the most common requests we get asked at the Information Desk is for English language classes and with 45% of the Danbury residents reporting speaking a language other than English at home, it is something we are excited to offer our community,” said Katie Pearson, Library Director.

The project, Learn English! Free English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Classes at the Library, will consist of three English language courses and will be held in the Lower Level Meeting Room of the Danbury Library.  Each course will run for ten weeks with five hours of instruction per week; totaling 50 hours of instruction per course. To provide instructors for these courses, the Library is partnering with Western Connecticut Regional Adult and Continuing Education (WERACE).  WERACE will also assist the Library in implementing a standard assessment of language proficiency, an initiative that WERACE is spearheading, so that students can seamlessly continue their language studies at any Danbury location or organization that is offering courses. 

Danbury Library was selected through a competitive, peer-reviewed application process. Eighty-five public libraries applied for the 20 available grants, according to the ALA Public Programs Office. View all 20 recipients of the 2018 American Dream Literacy Grants.

The American Dream Literacy Initiative strives to develop tools and resources for libraries and library staff to provide effective literacy services to adult English language learners in their communities and across the country.

Since the program’s inception, more than 200 libraries in Dollar General communities have initiated or expanded literacy services for adult English language learners. The grants allow libraries to augment their print and digital English as a second language (ESL) collections; increase computer access and training; provide job training; hold English language learning (ELL), general educational development (GED) and citizenship classes; and raise the visibility of services for immigrant populations.

The American Dream Literacy Initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The Danbury Library is located at 170 Main Street in Danbury, CT.    For additional program  information, contact Rodrigo Fuenzalida:203-797-4505, x 7727 or rfuenzalida@danburylibrary.org