Fifth Congressional District

LSTA Direct Grants to Libraries

Massachusetts uses LSTA funding to provide libraries with direct grants to meet the needs of their community. There were three LSTA direct grants awarded to libraries in the Fifth Congressional District in 2022 totaling $26,000.

Below are examples of direct grant funded projects in the Fifth Congressional District:

• Holliston Public Library $10,000

  Holliston Public Library has recently converted some structured programming to drop-ins with larger, more flexible windows of time for attending, providing more options for busy families in the community. Stay and Play Together will improve and expand on this change by creating a flexible free play space in the Library, which will promote learning through unstructured and open-ended play. The project will also provide educational programs for caregivers and children that will focus on culture and social emotional learning.

• Woburn Public Library $15,000

  The City of Woburn, population 40,876, has a foreign-born population of 19.9%, or 8,135 foreign-born residents. Twenty three percent are non-English speakers and less than 10% of these adults are enrolled in English Language Learning (ELL) programs. Local ELL classes fill up quickly and have long waiting lists. These classes do not provide civics training. Woburn Public Library’s Adult Literacy and Citizenship Training project will offer English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes to low level speakers in the immigrant and refugee community of Woburn, provide materials and workshops for those applying for United States citizenship, deliver Cultural Awareness training for staff, and create a volunteer training program to sustain the project after the grant’s completion.