Learning Circles Are A New Kind Of Class For Adults At The Los
Angeles Public Library!
Learning circles are
basically study groups for adults who want to take online courses together. The
online courses can come from many places, including colleges, news-papers,
YouTube, or databases on the LAPL website.
There is almost no limit to the kinds of courses you can take in a learning circle! So far, we’ve had learning circles on basic computer skills, acrylic painting, American sign language, interview skills, knitting, and much more!
Learning
circles make online courses more interesting and fun, because instead of taking
the class all by yourself, you take it with other people! You can make new
friends and help one another learn as you study. Learning circles are as much
about building a community of learners as they are about the subject being
studied.
Just
recently, two of our literacy
coordinators, Abel and Priscilla, helped lead learning circles. Below, they
tell us what it was like!
Priscilla Rojas Naiman: Angi Brzycki, adult librarian at the Hollywood Branch, and I recently concluded a six week learning circle on the 1619 Project.
For those
unfamiliar with it, the 1619 Project was a massive effort by The New York Times
Magazine to detail the history of slavery, its lasting effects within our
culture, and to celebrate the often-suppressed role of formerly enslaved
peoples in making American democracy manifest. Its aim was to reframe the
country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions
of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
The 1619
Project Learning Circle was difficult to get through but highly needed in light
of today’s climate. An average of 15 people joined us each week on Zoom from
all over the country. They came prepared by having read the essays the NY Times
collected and heard the podcasts assigned so that the discussion would be fruitful.
There were participants who came to this country not knowing that the Black
community had so many trials over the centuries. READ
MORE ➤➤
