Posted November 12, 2004.
NYC Initiative Opens 21 School Libraries, Announces 25 More
Announcing the opening this fall of 21 new elementary school libraries around New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said November 8 that the city plans to expand a partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation to create an additional 25 libraries by the fall of 2006. The projects are part of a five-year initiative launched in 2002 to renovate most of the city’s elementary-school libraries, stock them with books and state-of-the-art computer technology, and provide MLS training for teachers through a tailor-made program at Syracuse University. A survey conducted by the foundation at that time found that fewer than 100 of the city’s 650 elementary schools had functioning libraries, the New York Times reported November 9.
Bloomberg said the city would spend $10 million on the forthcoming libraries; the Robin Hood Foundation will contribute $6.5 million, including a $1-million donation by the investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston. Publishers Scholastic and HarperCollins will donate millions of dollars in books.
“Putting the libraries in the elementary schools really just opens up whole new worlds,” said Bloomberg. “It unlocks the children that live here, the possibilities, and they start to understand that it’s a wonderful world and that if they get a good education and work hard and have a little bit of luck, there’s no telling what they can do.”
Posted November 12, 2004.