Left to right: Melissa Malanuk, QPL Assistant Director of Children, Youth & Family Programs and Services; Kelly Rubbins, National Grid Acting Director, Social Impact & Community Engagement Operations; Robert Simmons III, National Grid U.S. Vice President of U.S. Social Impact and Community Engagement; Fin Hossain, Central Library Teen Center Customer, Eileen Cifone, National Grid New York City External Affairs Director; and Dennis M. Walcott, QPL President and CEO
Queens Public Library Celebrates $316,000 National Grid Grant for Expanded Teen STEM Programming
Funding will be used to create program model co-designed by middle and high school students
JAMAICA, NY_ Queens Public Library today held a check presentation ceremony at Central Library to thank National Grid for a $316,000, three-year grant to widen access to teen STEM programs at nearly two dozen locations across the borough.
The funding will support the creation, piloting, and expansion of new youth-centered STEM programs designed to increase access to robotics, coding, and other technology-driven learning opportunities. It will also help young people build college and career readiness skills, strengthen problem-solving abilities, and encourage teamwork. Programs will take place at QPL’s 22 tech maker hubs, called “Teen Innovation Stations,” which deliver hands-on technology education to neighborhoods located beyond the immediate reach of the Library’s five full-service teen centers.
Over the next year, QPL will collaborate with teen representatives, STEM educators from local public middle and high schools, museum partners, and National Grid professionals to identify engaging STEM topics, design a series of hands-on workshops, and pilot them at three Teen Innovation Stations. Young people will participate in multi-session programs featuring project-based learning, opportunities to meet STEM role models, and a final presentation of their projects.
“This generous investment will allow us to expand and enhance our STEM programming for teens, giving them greater access to opportunities to develop critical skills, prepare for college and careers, strengthen their confidence, and spark their curiosity,” said QPL President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott. “We are deeply grateful to National Grid for its ongoing support of the Library and look forward to our continued work together."
“Our partnership with Queens Public Library reflects our belief that reliable energy and reliable access to opportunity go hand in hand,” said Robert Simmons, US Vice President of Social Impact for National Grid. “This investment will help equip young people across Queens and beyond with STEM skills, hands-on technology, and creative learning spaces they need to explore new ideas, build confidence, and power their own futures.”
Following the pilot phase, the program will be expanded to the 22 Innovation Stations, ultimately serving approximately 2,500 teen students across Queens.
National Grid and Queens Public Library have collaborated for more than 30 years to provide Queens youth with numerous hands-on, after-school learning opportunities. In 2022, National Grid’s Project C, through its expanded Grid For Good program, supported the renovation, beautification and planting of native gardens at five QPL branches, including the butterfly garden at Elmhurst Library.
For more information about Queens Public Library’s teen services and programs, go here.
About Queens Public Library
Queens Public Library is one of the largest and busiest public library systems in the United States, dedicated to serving the most ethnically and culturally diverse area in the country. An independent, non-profit organization founded in 1896, Queens Public Library offers free access to a collection of more than 5 million books and other materials in 50 languages, technology, and digital resources. Each year, the Library hosts tens of thousands of online and in-person educational, cultural, and civic programs and welcomes millions of visitors through its doors. With a presence in nearly every neighborhood across the borough of Queens, the Library consists of 66 locations, including branch libraries, a Central Library, seven adult learning centers, a technology lab at the Queensbridge public housing complex, a community learning center at the Ravenswood public housing complex, and five teenage student learning centers. It also has four bookmobiles and two book bicycles.
About National Grid
National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future — transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information, please visit our website, follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find us on Instagram.
Contact:
QPL - Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, ekern@queenslibrary.org
National Grid - Alexander Starr, Alexander.Starr@nationalgrid.com