While school might be out for the summer, classes are about to begin at Boston Public Library, thanks to General Assembly. The famed Copley Square institution will host GA this summer to teach a trio of courses, completely free of charge and geared toward equipping people with the basic skills they need to begin a small business or startup.
While the Library has had a variety of traditional education opportunities take place in its hallowed, book-lined halls, this will be its first foray into tech-oriented offerings.
The classes are targeting Bostonians who “have heard about but haven’t gotten into Web development, and those that have been thinking about getting involved in the startup community,” Shannon O’Halloran of GA told BostInno.
Though GA now has an easier-to-access location in Fort Point, the organization understands that transportation and price still can act as barriers.
“So much of the city we’re not always reaching, but we’re focusing on getting into other branches of the city and spreading the GA curriculum into other neighborhoods,” explained O’Halloran.
To further reduce friction, none of the GA summer library courses were designed to require a laptop, so the only thing attendees need to bring is their brain to 700 Boylston Street.
Each class will be taught on the fourth Thursday of June, July and August from 6:30 till 8 p.m., and cover topics like social media and elementary web development. Take a look at the schedule below, and happy learning!
Thursday, June 26th: Web Development: Let’s Break It Down at The Boston Public Library. Taught by Matt Brendzel, educational programs producer at GA
Thinking of learning to code, but getting lost in the alphabet soup (AJAX, PHP, CSS, etc)? Whether you're interested in building your own web sites and applications, or looking to change careers, this class will introduce you to the world of web development (and programming in general).
Thursday, July 24th: Intro to the Boston Startup Community at The Boston Public Library. Taught by Anand Chopra-McGowan, business development at GA
An orientation to help newcomers to the startup scene get acquainted with the exciting tech world in Boston. We will give you the inside scoop on key events and meetups to attend, people, companies, venture capital, blogs, incubators, programs, hot issues, and more.
Thursday, August 28th: Get Social: Beginner’s Guide to Social Media for Businesses at Boston Public Library. Taught by Steph Parker, senior social strategist, brand content at GA
Social media has evolved into a necessary element of any marketing plan. Consumers on social networks expect to be able to find and connect with you. In this class, you'll learn about the role of key social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest and how to start engaging consumers on these platforms.
Image via GA
