Literacy in Community

Literacy in Community Literacy in Community (LINC) builds neighborhood networks to support young readers by partnering with schools, libraries and

We offer bilingual resources to families, helping them bring reading home. When a community reads, children succeed!

08/22/2026

You can’t trust everyone to catch you…But you can trust LINC to catch your family with FREE literacy resources! 📚💛

From free books and reading materials to interactive read-alouds, family workshops, and programs across NYC, LINC is here to help families make reading part of everyday life—all at no cost.

Ready to get reading? Explore our free programs and resources: lincnyc.org

🎒☀️ From summer adventures to back-to-school beginnings, there’s still plenty of time to read, play, move, and learn tog...
08/22/2026

🎒☀️ From summer adventures to back-to-school beginnings, there’s still plenty of time to read, play, move, and learn together! Join LINC August 24–30 for FREE family programs across NYC designed to spark curiosity, build early literacy skills, and make learning fun.

📍East Harlem
🗓August 24, 10am | Summer Storytime at New York City Department of Parks & Recreation's James Weldon Johnson Playground. Sing, read, and play together during this interactive storytime
🎟️ No registration needed

📍East New York
🗓August 26, 10:30am | VIP Growing Readers Garden Program at New York City Department of Parks & Recreation's East End Community Garden. Explore how reading, community, health, and safety grow together through stories and hands-on activities
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/528ynvrr
🗓August 26, 12pm | Dig into Reading at Success Garden. Discover nature through bilingual stories, songs, and games.
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/528ynvrr
🗓August 27, 10am | Read Together , Grow Together at 79th PCT. Build early literacy skills while learning about the community helpers who help keep our neighborhoods healthy and strong.
🎟️ FREE Registration: https://lincnyc.formstack.com/forms/linc_summer_programs_in_east_new_york_fy27
🗓August 28, 12pm | Flipping Burgers & Turning Pages at New York Restoration Project's Essex Community Garden. Celebrate reading with bilingual stories, songs, and games at this lively family Reading Party.
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/528ynvrr
🗓August 29, 5pm | Back to School at New York City Department of Parks & Recreation's Lower Highland Park Playground. Get ready for the new school year with family-friendly literacy fun!
🎟️ FREE Registration: https://lincnyc.formstack.com/forms/brooklyn_tabling_form_tabling_form

📍South Jamaica
🗓August 26, 11am | Summer 2026 at PS 40Q Playground. Enjoy a playful morning of storytime, games, dancing, and more!
🎟️ FREE Registration: qrco.de/bgt3R7

📍Inwood
🗓August 24, 11am | Stories, Songs & Family Fun at Inwood Branch of The New York Public Library. Celebrate summer with a joyful bilingual program filled with stories, songs, movement, and family fun. 🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/8yhdejr4
🗓August 26, 10:30am | Yoga in the Park at Dyckman Fields. Stretch, move, sing, and read together with bilingual stories and playful yoga
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/37m6pzsw
🗓August 27, 11am | Read, Play, and Explore with New York City Department of Parks & Recreation's RING Garden Discover easy ways to help young readers learn and grow through outdoor stories, songs, and activities.
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/37m6pzsw

📍Staten Island
🗓August 28, 10:30am | Little Readers, Big Adventures at NYPL The New York Public Library's NYPL: Stapleton Library. Roar, read, sing, and play your way through an animal-filled storytime adventure!
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/tt26si
📍Virtual
🗓August 26, 4pm | Virtual Baby Shower. Celebrate your growing family with music, games, a read-aloud, a raffle, and tips for nurturing early language and literacy.
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/k82843h8

All LINC programs are designed for families with children ages 0–5, but all ages are welcome!

🧰 🛠️ What does it take to build a reader? Hint: it's bigger than any one classroom, program, or organization!That's the ...
08/20/2026

🧰 🛠️ What does it take to build a reader? Hint: it's bigger than any one classroom, program, or organization!

That's the question behind a proposed SXSW EDU panel from LINC and Reach Out and Read of Greater New York "Who Builds Readers? The Continuum of Trusted Relationships." The session explores how families, healthcare providers, community organizations, libraries, and schools work together to create the literacy-rich environments children need to thrive from birth.

If selected, our own 🌟Laura Walsh🌟, LINC's Chief Program Officer, will join an incredible group of leaders to share how collaboration across sectors can strengthen family engagement and support early literacy outcomes.

💙🗳️ If you believe in the power of community, partnership, and early literacy, we'd be grateful for your vote. Voting is open through Sunday, August 23:tinyurl.com/LINCSXSWEduVote

🚇📚 What a ride! Yesterday, more than 400 LINC families from across all five boroughs came together for our 🌟12th annual ...
08/16/2026

🚇📚 What a ride! Yesterday, more than 400 LINC families from across all five boroughs came together for our 🌟12th annual Reading on the Rails,🌟 a citywide literacy adventure that turned public transit and Central Park into spaces for reading, discovery, and connection.

From early-morning subway rides to a picnic in Central Park, a story-inspired exploration of Bow Bridge, the Hans Christian Andersen Statue, and the Alice in Wonderland Statue, families spent the day discovering just how much learning can happen along the way. 🧺🏞️

📖 We were thrilled to welcome beloved children's author and longtime LINC friend Tish Rabe Books, who shared a special read-aloud from her new book, "Central Park, You Can See Why It’s the Best Place to Be," and generously donated books to participating LINC families.

A huge thank you to our LINC families for bringing your energy, curiosity, and love of reading; to our incredible staff and volunteers for making every part of the day possible; and to Iovino Enterprises for their generous support of this year’s Reading on the Rails. 🫂💙

Together, we’re helping make literacy a part of everyday life: on the subway, in the park, and everywhere in between. Read the full blog post: https://tinyurl.com/LINCRotRThankYou

🏆💛 Behind every story shared, family welcomed, and child reached this year was a team that made it happen. As we continu...
08/16/2026

🏆💛 Behind every story shared, family welcomed, and child reached this year was a team that made it happen. As we continue to celebrate the close of FY26, we're taking a moment to recognize the LINC staff whose passion, creativity, and commitment helped bring literacy-rich experiences to children and families across New York City.

From planning programs and building community partnerships to supporting caregivers and creating spaces where families can learn together, their work shows up in countless ways every day.

We're also grateful for the partners who make this work stronger. As Ingrid Matias Chungata, Executive Director of , shared: "At Nuestros Niños we know that great partnership makes a real difference...We want to thank the entire LINC team for their support, collaboration, and commitment to our work. It's been a pleasure working together to strengthen opportunities for children and the families we serve.”

🤝 We couldn't ask for a better reflection of what makes LINC special: dedicated staff, strong partnerships, and a shared belief in the power of community. To Team LINC: thank you for all you've accomplished this year. We can't wait to see what FY27 brings.

🎒📚 Back-to-school season is here—and there’s no better way to get ready than with stories, songs, and plenty of family f...
08/12/2026

🎒📚 Back-to-school season is here—and there’s no better way to get ready than with stories, songs, and plenty of family fun! Join LINC August 17–23 for a week of free, family-friendly programs across the city designed to help little learners build excitement for the year ahead.

📍East Harlem
️🗓️️ August 17, 10am | Summer Storytime at Central Park's Bernard Family Playground. Cozy up for an interactive morning of stories and songs, perfect for little ones ages 0–2. Older siblings welcome!
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/y2kx84yf
️🗓️️ August 20, 11am | Fun in the Gardens at New York Restoration Project's Los Amigos Community Garden. Enjoy stories, songs, and activities outdoors for children ages 0–6. Older siblings welcome!
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/bdcvyh4j

📍East New York
️🗓️️ August 21, 12pm | Reading Is the Best School Supply at New York Restoration Project's Essex Community Garden. Kick off the school year with stories and literacy fun!
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/528ynvrr
️️🗓️ August 21, 1:30pm | Book to School at New York Restoration Project's Essex Community Garden. Pick up books and get ready for a new year of learning!
🎟️ No Registration Required

📍Kingsbridge
️️🗓️ August 20, 10:15am | Stories in the Garden at Wave Hill Park. Bring stories to life through interactive readings and activities surrounded by nature.
🎟️ FREE Registration: qrco.de/bgunuo

📍Inwood
️️🗓️ August 20, 10:30am | Little Garden Readers at New York Restoration Project. Riley-Levin Children's Garden. Enjoy bilingual stories, songs, and games designed to bring families together and spark a love of reading.
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/37m6pzsw

📍South Jamaica
️️🗓️ August 19, 11am | Summer 2026 Program at New York City Department of Parks & Recreation's South Jamaica Infinity Garden. Get ready for an interactive morning of stories, songs, and games!
🎟️ FREE Registration: qrco.de/bgt3R7

📍Staten Island
️🗓️️ August 18, 11:15am | Serve & Return Workshop series at West New Brighton Library. Learn playful, practical ways to build your baby’s early communication skills through responsive interactions, games, and activities.
🎟️ FREE Registration: qrco.de/bgvEVV

📍Washington Heights
️🗓️ August 18, 10:30am | Books & Blankets at the Little Red Lighthouse. Settle in for outdoor stories, songs, and early literacy activities beside the river.
🎟️ FREE Registration: tinyurl.com/hzvhj27

All LINC programs are designed for families with children ages 0–5, but all ages are welcome!

🚇🏙️ What if every trip across New York City could become a learning opportunity?That’s the idea behind LINC’s Reading on...
08/12/2026

🚇🏙️ What if every trip across New York City could become a learning opportunity?
That’s the idea behind LINC’s Reading on the Rails.

As Tish Rabe Books shares in her conversation with NBC News Joe Fryer, literacy doesn’t have to happen only at home or in the classroom. A subway ride, a bus trip, a walk through the park, or a visit to a neighborhood destination can all become opportunities to read, explore, ask questions, and spark a child’s imagination. ✨🧠📚

Now in its 12th year, Reading on the Rails is one of LINC's signature literacy initiatives, helping participating families discover how everyday journeys can become meaningful moments of reading and learning.

Summer may mean a break from school, but it doesn’t have to mean a break from learning. LINC’s community literacy model helps families build reading into the places and routines they already know, helping children stay engaged, build skills, and get ready to thrive when school begins again.

Watch Tish share why the journey matters, and why, at LINC, we believe literacy can happen anywhere and everywhere. 💛 Watch the full interview and read our blog post here: tinyurl.com/LINCRotRNBCNews

🚇 Big news: Reading on the Rails is headed to national television! Tomorrow morning at 8:45 am, children's author Tish R...
08/11/2026

🚇 Big news: Reading on the Rails is headed to national television!

Tomorrow morning at 8:45 am, children's author Tish Rabe Books will join NBC News Joe Fryer to talk about her new book, "Central Park, You Can See Why It's the Best Place to Be," as well as LINC and our annual Reading on the Rails adventure.

Now in its 12th year, Reading on the Rails brings together more than 400 families from across New York City's five boroughs for a citywide literacy journey that demonstrates in real time how learning can happen anywhere and everywhere. From subway rides and bus trips to parks, playgrounds, and neighborhood destinations, families discover that every journey can become a literacy-rich experience. 📚🌳🔎

At LINC, we connect families with each other and with resources already present in their communities, helping surround children with literacy-rich environments inside and outside the home. Through programs like Reading on the Rails, children experience reading as fun while building skills, confidence, and routines that support lifelong learning.

We're excited to see this beloved tradition, and the power of literacy in community, shared with audiences across the country.

🌳🍃Looking for a family adventure before summer slips away? The new New York State Literacy Trail turns story time into e...
08/09/2026

🌳🍃Looking for a family adventure before summer slips away? The new New York State Literacy Trail turns story time into exploration time.

Created by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, this statewide initiative pairs children's books with parks and environmental education centers across New York, and is inviting families to read, imagine, and discover the outdoors together. 🦋🌲📚

Featuring a diverse selection of stories that celebrate nature, community, curiosity, and adventure, the trail connects families to beloved picture books while encouraging children to experience the world beyond the page. 📖🏞️From Brooklyn's Marsha P. Johnson State Park to Watkins Glen, Letchworth, and beyond, each destination offers a new opportunity to read, explore, and learn together.

🗺️🔍 This summer and fall, pick a book, choose a park, and see where the next chapter takes your family. Learn more about the New York State Literacy Trail and find a location near you: ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/literacy

📚👶🏾👶🏽 Reading to your baby starts sooner than you think! In her latest blog post, literacy expert Maya Smart Reports sha...
08/07/2026

📚👶🏾👶🏽 Reading to your baby starts sooner than you think! In her latest blog post, literacy expert Maya Smart Reports shares 3 simple tips for making story time meaningful from day one:

✨ Make it a conversation, not a monologue
✨ Prioritize connection over screens
✨ Keep it simple and follow your baby's lead

At LINC, we believe every moment of connection is an opportunity for learning and growth. Even a few minutes with a book can help build language, strengthen bonds, and spark a lifelong love of reading.

📖🌱 Read Maya's full blog post and discover how story time can support your baby's development from the very beginning: tinyurl.com/LINCMayaSmartReadingTips

Address

5030 Broadway, Ste 641
New York, NY
10034

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Literacy in Community posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Literacy in Community:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category