Facing the Page Centers for Reading and Writing

If you think of poems as flowers, then the Aguilar Poetry Fest was an exercise in charming cross-pollination. Sharing was the thing. Students were seated in groups of about 6, where they read their chosen poems to each other and then intermixed with other tables to multiply the fun. Poets included Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, Maya Angelou, Naomi Shihab Nye, Shel Silverstein, Douglas Florian (on Silverstein’s wavelength), Billy Collins, some haiku poets, and a smattering of others. 

For more than two decades, Haw King Cheng has wanted to learn English so that he could get ahead in his new country.

After everything he has been through, Tommy Foday wasn’t going to let a snowstorm keep him from finally learning to read and write.

Nearly 10 years ago, Foday, a torture survivor and refugee from Sierra Leone, was set to have his first adult literacy class at the St. George Library Center on Staten Island on the day of a major snowfall. Though the Library was nearly empty and all the other students stayed home, Foday still made it in — and has remained a dedicated student ever since.

You have not crossed the bridges I have crossed.
You have not listened to the music I have listened to.
You have not been in the top of the World Trade Center the way I have been there.
You have not seen the waves I have seen.
You have not fallen from horses the way I have fallen.
You have not felt the guns on your neck the way I have felt them.
You have not been in the sea with a big storm in a little boat the way I have been.

—Excerpt from "Don’t Give Me Advice," by Luis Marin, Tompkins Square CRW

This month is National Poetry Month, and here at the Center for Reading and Writing (CRW) some 

A woman came into the Library's Center for Reading and Writing, where she was enrolled in a basic literacy class. Visibly shaken, she pulled a staff member aside and confided that she wasn’t sure if she would be able to continue in the class. She had felt some pain in her breast, and her doctor had recommended that she have a mammogram. Not having any idea what a mammogram was, she understood it to mean that she had cancer. The staff member showed her how to find information about mammograms in library books and online. After consulting these resources, she went to her next doctor's appointment knowing what to expect and what questions to ask.

Last year, Victoria joined a basic reading and writing class at Tompkins Square Library's Center for Reading and Writing. She agreed to speak with me about her experience so far and what brought her here.

After three months of writing letters back and forth, Aguilar Library students and CUNY's City Tech students met one another at the holiday pen pal party at City Tech on Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Students from both sites were excited to meet each other and find out more about their new friend! Traveling from 110th Street on the East Side, Aguilar Library students and their tutors made their visit a true learning experience by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset. They checked out the view, learned about the 130-year-old structure, and explored the Brooklyn Waterfront. And they even made a stop at Jacques Torres Chocolatier and Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn 

Students at Aguilar Library's Center for Reading and Writing are getting to know other students from around the city! They are pen pals with students in one ESOL evening class at CUNY's City Tech Adult Learning Center in Brooklyn.

Jay Klokker's students at City Tech introduced themselves to Aguilar Library's CRW students in short handwritten letters and within a week, Aguilar Library's CRW students had their replies out in the mail back to Brooklyn!

More than 20 pairs of pen pals look forward to their "mail," which is hand delivered by their teachers each week. Some topics discussed include: The Breadwinner, a book about a girl in 

First — a phone call or an Internet visit to nypl.org. This starts the process for registering to be a volunteer tutor at the Centers for Reading and Writing (CRW) at The New York Public Library. The process continues with a scheduled visit to one of the eight CRW sites located in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. A Site Advisor or Literacy Assistant then conducts a crucial interview that helps determine whether or not one qualifies for volunteer tutor training.

Learning to write through photography is one of the goals of Sol Aramendi, a photographer/educator who is currently leading a nine week "Literacy through Photography" class at Aguilar Library's Center for Reading and Writing.

The Fall Cycle started at Aguilar Library's Center for Reading and Writing (CRW) on September 12, 2011! Thirty new students and six new tutors joined the excitement and will spend the next 12 weeks working together — reading, writing, and challenging themselves along the way.  

At the Center for Reading and Writing at Seward Park Library, volunteer tutors work with small groups of students improving basic English reading and writing skills. Tutors are encouraged to reflect on their own learning, and to think how they have felt while learning something new. Here is tutor Alexandra (Alex) Steedman’s reflection.

Twice a year, each of The New York Public Library's eight Centers for Reading and Writing hosts a Learning Celebration for adult literacy students and volunteer tutors. Students read their work aloud, family and friends join in the festivities, and everyone receives a copy of a new journal of student writing. After the reading program, there is a potluck meal and often music or other demonstrations, such as salsa, tai chi, or singing.

Outside Symphony Space, on the Upper West Side, a line began stretching down the block. There was hand-shaking, back-patting, and fist-bumping as those in line welcomed new arrivals. The crowd, comprised of adult students and their tutors from basic literacy programs throughout the five boroughs, including The New York Public Library's Centers for Reading and Writing, gathered last week for Symphony Space’s annual event, All Write!

Lucy Liu, who emigrated from China to New York City nine years ago, is proud that her two young children speak perfect English.
 
Now she wants to learn too.

Pedro Munoz, a junior-high dropout and recovering addict, had never set foot in a Library until two years ago.

Now, Tompkins Square Library is his favorite spot in the city — the place that gave him the strength to turn his life around.

Better than vanilla ice cream! That’s what one student said in her reading at the Aguilar Center for Reading and Writing Learning Celebration on Thursday, December 8th. The student read her story about things she was thankful for—and the Aguilar CRW was right up there, better than vanilla ice cream. Other students shared their emotions about being a single parent and the responsibilities of bringing up a child without any help; about a dream finding $1 million dollars in a Swiss bank account; and even a story about fly fishing!

Pedro, a native New Yorker, faced up to a number of personal challenges before he enrolled in the Tompkins Square Center for Reading and Writing (CRW), the library's adult literacy program last year. I asked Pedro about his journey this past year as a student.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with my friend Patrick, who is also a librarian. We were catching up about our summer activities and plans for the school year, and in the course of the conversation, he asked about my mother. She's a teacher in Arizona, where they start back to school in mid-August (so much earlier than the NYC kids, who are just getting back today!) so I shared some funny stories she had been telling me about her first few weeks of first grade. If you're at all familiar with the comically literal tendencies of Amelia Bedelia, just multiply that by 25 and that seems to be the situation for the first month in a first grade classroom.