The Flushing Library
From The Peopling of New York City
The Flushing Library is considered by many the focal point of the surrounding neighborhood. Situated at Kissena Boulevard and Main Street, its ideal location draws in people by the thousands each day and offers programs to promote a shared sense of community.
The programs associated with the library play a significant role in assisting members – especially immigrants – to get settled into their life in Flushing. The New Americans Program offers free citizenship preparation classes, job training information, and other important information for the new immigrants of Queens. [1] It also hosts cultural celebrations of the diverse nature of the Flushing community, by presenting workshops and concerts that celebrate the arts of immigrants from all over the world. Just on May 10th, the Flushing branch library will be celebrating Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month with a screening of a Korean film followed by a bilingual discussion.
The Adult Learning Center is another vital service that the library offers to the citizens of the community. This center is the home of ESOL, which teaches English as a second language to immigrants, and the Family Literacy Program, which teaches families parenting skills and encourages parental involvement in their children’s education. [2] Such programs reach out to immigrants struggling to adapt to life in America.
A few of the overall goals of the Flushing branch library are to make newly arrived immigrants more independent, more versatile, and to help the community in general to cultivate their reading skills. Programs range from helping immigrant parents understand the education system in America, to helping students learn to take the SAT exam, to advising people on the proper manner to choose a medical insurance plan. This institution publishes newsletters on their website, invites people to join classes, provides directories, and in the near future hopes to have a community board meeting. It currently strives to reach out to populations – such as Hispanics – that as of yet do not take advantage of these programs.
It is commonly believed that a lack of communication may push people to live in the zones within which they are most comfortable. The Flushing branch library institution serves to encourage people to interact, to break down barriers, and help people assimilate.