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....August 8, 1:19 PM |
| Community Love: Flushing Library Helps Immigrants Adapt
By Michael Lanza With the national immigration debate long in deadlock – a partisan shouting match devoid of compromise or reasonable solutions – it’s hard to find people without strong and varying opinions on the subject.
So when Christine Fisher posed a simple question to her class at the Queens Library at Flushing – immigration: good or bad? – the 100 percent affirmative response from her students may have been surprising to some. It may have been surprising if this were an ordinary class. But for the diverse class of immigrants studying English at the epicenter of the City’s melting pot, their overwhelming optimism and desire for a new life as Americans wouldn’t allow any other answer. “The first Americans arrived from another country,” one student said, perplexed at the notion of 30 percent of Americans being opposed to immigration according to Fisher’s poll. And although their opinions varied on other controversial issues addressed in the classroom, like gun control, they did find common ground again as they left the room – everyone gratefully agreed that they loved the class. The students, whose origins ranged from Bangladesh to China, are among 600 annually enrolled in the library’s Adult Learning Center, where they learn language, culture, civics, job readiness and computer skills – some of the tools necessary to adapt to life as an American in one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the country. They are among the 5,000 people who convene here daily at the busiest branch of the busiest library system in the nation. The center, now in its 31st year of operation, is among seven in the borough that promote literacy and language skills in their communities. “People are desperate to learn,” Alla Osokina, the library’s literacy manager, said. “We have a very diverse community and our student body reflects that.” “When people from different cultures communicate, cross cultural awareness is also being developed within the class environment. That is a very positive thing about the libraries in general.” “It’s one of the amazing things about the ALC, our students come from literally all over the world,” Heather Dutiel, an educator at the center, added. |
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