Birmingham Public Library Awarded $16K Grant For Literacy Program

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Birmingham Public Library was recently awarded a $16,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to provide free reading and math tutoring for second- and third-grade students in Birmingham City Schools.

This program aims to address learning deficits among young children, brought on by remote and hybrid learning formats due to the COVID-19 pandemic. BPL will offer these sessions at five library locations- Central (downtown), Avondale, Five Points West, North Birmingham and Springville Road.

The program begins on Monday, June 14 and runs through July 8.

Each of the five libraries will be assigned a literacy leader (tutor) - a high school junior, senior or college student - and a certified teacher to implement and oversee the program. Literacy leaders will receive a monetary stipend and access to classes on budgeting and other critical life and job skills, using the Birmingham Public Library LRNG platform.

The LRNG platform enables young people to access both local and national opportunities from their computer, smartphone or tablet. In addition, two certified teachers will provide daily support and specialized training throughout the four weeks, including initial training and orientation for the mentors on June 11.

The teachers will also work with BPL librarians to create pre- and post-tests to measure student progress in this program. BPL Youth Librarians will establish a collection of books and manipulatives to be used during this summer program.

“Mentoring is an important component of this program as it sets up strong relationships between students and their tutors which is a factor for student’s success,” said Janine Langston, Interim Director of BPL.

For more information about BPL 2021 Summer Learning program, click here.