Brooklyn Connections

Connect your classroom to Brooklyn history with our FREE partnership program!

Applications are open for the 2024-2025 Brooklyn Connections partnership program! Please click here to learn more and apply today. If you have already applied, a CBH educator will be in touch soon.

Brooklyn Connections is BPL’s standards-based local history education program for 4th-12th grade students. Through Connections, educators from the Center for Brooklyn History partner with local schools to teach 21st century research skills and bring Brooklyn-centric stories out of our archives and into the borough’s classrooms. Partner educators receive ample primary source and skills-based course materials, class visits from a CBH educator, and a student research trip to the Center for Brooklyn History in Brooklyn Heights.

CBH Education believes in treating students as researchers, empowering them to engage in archival work with confidence and agency.

You can find a selection of the local history topics and research skill lessons on offer on our Connections Resources page.

Please write CBHEducation@bklynlibrary.org with any questions about the program or the application process.


A word from our partner educators:

"It's the best kept secret in education. The program brings history to life. In so many instances, students are taught history as a long gone experience that they can't connect to. They don't make the self and community historical connection because of the way it is presented to them. This program bridges those pedagogical gaps by using local primary resources (that includes elders) to teach the importance of knowing self through a historical acumen. It provides students the experience of interacting with the public library in a richer way like never before—that's why I keep returning!" –Georgette Clarke, PS/IS 308 (8th Grade, Self-Contained Classroom)

"As an 18 year NYC public school teacher I was beyond impressed with the level of engagement the students displayed in response to the rigorous and enjoyable work the program and instructor provided. Brooklyn Connections created a customized curriculum for my students that gave life and relevancy to our city's rich history. Brooklyn Connections proved to be a rare and unique opportunity for students to research and learn in so many new and wonderful ways." –Lee Gabay, Brooklyn Democracy Academy (9-10th Grade, ELA)

Read about the Impact of Brooklyn Connections

In 2019-2020, Brooklyn Connections worked with Knology to learn about the impact of our program. Read their findings here:

FAQs

Brooklyn Connections is designed to make the research process fun and accessible for students and educators. Fully aligned with the Common Core State Standards, Brooklyn Connections anchors students in the 21st Century learning skills needed in order to achieve academic success in school and beyond. Our program is committed to fostering critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity by offering exciting learning experiences and support for your classrooms.

Brooklyn Connections’ partners receive the following COMPLIMENTARY resources and support:

  • Dedicated Brooklyn Connection educator
  • Teacher planning meeting and one-on-one support throughout the school year
  • Customized primary source project packets, standards aligned lesson plans and graphic organizers specifically curated for your class needs
  • Books and archival facsimiles for your classroom
  • CBH archive tour and visit to the Othmer Library
  • Unlimited access to the Brooklyn Collection archive and digitized resources
  • Educator professional learning workshops

Brooklyn Connections fully aligns and complements the New York State Common Core State Standards, English Language Arts Learning Standards and the Social Studies Framework for 4th – 12th grade classrooms. Our program emphasizes research, primary and secondary source analysis, reasoning and writing. Brooklyn Connections educators are experienced in project and inquiry-based instruction and will work with you to create a stimulating and positive research experience for your students.

All Brooklyn 4th – 12th grade classes are eligible to apply to partner with Brooklyn Connections.

Brooklyn Connections is FREE to all schools in Brooklyn!

Applications to partner with Brooklyn Connections are accepted on a rolling basis until our capacity is met; however, educators are strongly encouraged to apply early. Once you've applied, a Connections Educator will reach out and discuss the best partnership schedule to fit your students' needs.

APPLY ONLINE to partner with Brooklyn Connections. 

Contact CBH Education at cbheducation@bklynlibrary.org. 

The Brooklyn Connections program is administered by the Brooklyn Public Library and is generously supported by The Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, Epstein Teicher Philanthropies, Nissan Foundation, The Pine Tree Foundation, and National Grid. 

Upcoming Events

Brooklyn Is... Exhibition Tour

Fri, Nov 8 3:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History exhibitions

Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Brooklyn Is...!

Visitors will get an interactive look at the photographs, maps, and community reflections that make up the heart of this exhibition, as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together…

Brooklyn Is... Exhibition Tour

Fri, Nov 15 3:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History exhibitions

Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Brooklyn Is...!

Visitors will get an interactive look at the photographs, maps, and community reflections that make up the heart of this exhibition, as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together…

Prithi Kanakamedala discusses "Brooklynites"

Thu, Nov 21 6:00pm
Brownsville Library

author talks brooklyn history

Join us for a presentation and Q&A with Prithi Kanakamedala on Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough.

Before it was a borough, Brooklyn was our nation’s third largest city. Its free Black community attracted people from all walks of life…

Brooklyn Is... Exhibition Tour

Fri, Nov 22 3:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History exhibitions

Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Brooklyn Is...!

Visitors will get an interactive look at the photographs, maps, and community reflections that make up the heart of this exhibition, as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together…

Center for Brooklyn History, Virtual Lunch and Learn-Exploring the Henry Lloyd Ledgers

Tue, Nov 26 12:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History research

Historical ledgers are often used in research and can provide information about accounts and financial transactions, including sales, purchases, amounts, names of account holders and even how the items were transported. Join us for a virtual lunch and learn, exploring historical ledgers, how to…

Brooklyn Is... Exhibition Tour

Fri, Dec 6 3:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History exhibitions

Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Brooklyn Is...!

Visitors will get an interactive look at the photographs, maps, and community reflections that make up the heart of this exhibition, as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together…

Brooklyn Is... Exhibition Tour

Fri, Dec 13 3:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History exhibitions

Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Brooklyn Is...!

Visitors will get an interactive look at the photographs, maps, and community reflections that make up the heart of this exhibition, as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together…

Chronologues

Sat, Dec 14 1:00pm
Sunset Park Library

brooklyn history Heritage Ambassadors

Join us for a multimedia choreopoem performance featuring performers reading and acting out poems written by Dena Igusti. This unique event invites Southeast Asian Americans to explore their relationship with grief—both current and anticipatory. Through the lens of colonialism, state violence,…

Brooklyn Is... Exhibition Tour

Fri, Dec 20 3:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History exhibitions

Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Brooklyn Is...!

Visitors will get an interactive look at the photographs, maps, and community reflections that make up the heart of this exhibition, as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together…

Brooklyn Is... Exhibition Tour

Fri, Dec 27 3:00pm
Center for Brooklyn History

brooklyn history Center for Brooklyn History exhibitions

Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Brooklyn Is...!

Visitors will get an interactive look at the photographs, maps, and community reflections that make up the heart of this exhibition, as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together…

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