Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Boston Public Library announced a new partnership Tuesday to expand its English language learning program.
The organization received a $500,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to grow its English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Workforce Initiative, providing support for non-English speakers with employment development and opportunities.
“This award affirms the essential role public libraries play in expanding opportunity and fostering inclusion,” BPL President David Leonard said.
The grant will go towards hiring more bilingual specialists, expanding counseling service to immigrant communities, and strengthening partnerships with local organizations to help connect patrons with jobs across Greater Boston.
BPL’s ESOL program launched in 2022 and saw enrollment increase every year since, with nearly 15,000 signups in 2024.
The library was one of the eleven libraries in the nation selected for the grant.
With the growing number of immigrant populations in Massachusetts, the library said the expansion is needed now more than ever amid growing ICE raids and protests.
More than 200 people gathered at Boston City Hall Monday to show solidarity with the activists arrested during the protests in Los Angeles and President Donald Trump’s response to those protests.
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