Center for Educators & Schools

The New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools (CES) is devoted to making all of the Library’s resources accessible and useful for educators. You’ll find programs and services tailored for the educator community, such as book lists, credit-bearing workshops, special access to exhibitions, tips on teaching with primary source materials from our vast research collections, and much more.

A student raises his hand in a classroom.

Our Mission

Text: Center for Educators & Schools The New York Public Library. Illustrated book, apple, and pencil

The Center for Educators and Schools uses The New York Public Library's resources and collections to ignite curiosity, joy, and a passion for learning within educators, students, and school communities. 

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Featured Highlights: All-New Resources for Educators

Discover an all-new suite of teaching guides that feature materials from the Library’s circulating and research collections. Find ready-to-use discussion questions and activities, multilingual resources, and much more.

  • Graphic on a blue background, on the left there is the cover of a document reading "Reading Dangerously" and on its right there is an open spread of a document.

    Reading Dangerously: Censorship and the Freedom to Read in 20th-Century America

    Access a curriculum guide designed to help teachers support middle and high schoolers in exploring the history of censorship and resistance to gain new insights on current events.

  • Schomburg curriculum guides displayed on a purple background.

    Teaching with the Schomburg Center’s Archives

    Discover four all-new curriculum guides on Black history, experience, and culture through the archives and collections at the Schomburg Center.

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    Vibrant Voices

    Explore new books from authors of color with NYPL's Vibrant Voices book list and accompanying teaching tools to help you incorporate culturally responsive titles into your classroom.

Attend Events & Workshops for Educators

Build skills with your community and discover opportunities to learn from industry experts. Join the Center for Educators and Schools for a wide range of programs for educators and librarians, including credit-bearing professional development workshops, author talks, and film screenings.

Teach with NYPL's Primary Sources

Discover curricular materials that leverage the Library’s collections, along with model questions and activities for your students. Plus, find a wide array of guides that explore various themes and can be easily integrated into your teaching.

  • Lewis Wickes Hine, “Market day in Jewish quarter of East Side, New York City—1912,” Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, NYPL Digital Collections. Image ID: 464306.

    New! New York City’s Rent Strikers: Jewish Activism & Housing Reform in the Progressive Era

    Access a curriculum guide that explores how activism, laws, and reform impacted housing conditions through a selection of historical newspapers.

Plan Branch Visits, Classroom Workshops & Field Trips

Introduce your students to the Library by arranging a visit to an NYPL branch, inviting a librarian to run a classroom workshop, or viewing highlights from our collections in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures with your students.

Discover Book Lists, Teaching Tips & More

  • Book cover collage on a blue background, featuring multiple titles.

    NYPL's Educator Collection

    Discover a specially curated set of ​professional development books for teachers, library professionals, and parents—online and at select branches. 

  • White text on a rainbow gradient background reads: "Reading with Pride."

    Reading with Pride

    Explore an array of resources centered on historic and contemporary queer picture books, including scholarly essays on LGBTQ+ children’s literature.

  • A group of children look at a display case.

    Recommendations from NYPL Staff

    Find tips on using primary source materials from our collections in the classroom, recent book picks, and other resources for teachers at NYPL.

  • A group of students and a teacher hold up books near a large, red plastic bin.

    MyLibraryNYC

    Get student and educator access to the unparalleled digital resources of New York City's public library systems, as well as instructional support and professional development opportunities.

Apply for Fellowship Opportunities

Support Programs & Resources for Educators

  • Image of teacher smiling at a group of young students sitting on the floor.

    Make a Tax-Deductible Gift

    By supporting the Center for Educators and Schools, your gift will help us provide free field trips, curriculum guides, and everything in between—and help inspire curiosity, joy, and a passion for learning in school communities.

This work is part of the Library’s overall commitment to our branch patrons and education programs, led by the Merryl H. and James S. Tisch Director of The New York Public Library. Major support for educational programming is provided by Merryl H. and James S. Tisch.

The Center for Educators and Schools is supported in part by a generous grant from the Hearst Foundations.