Join Brooklyn Lifelong Learning

How to Join

By Mail

Complete the BLL Membership Application (PDF), write a check for $90 for a regular membership or $140 for a friend of BLL membership, or $1,500 for a lifetime membership, payable to Brooklyn Lifelong Learning, and mail to BLL Treasurer Joel Duckoff:

Mr. Joel Duckoff
165 Carroll Street, Apt #1
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Online

Complete the BLL Online Membership Application. Once you submit your application, you will be directed to PayPal, where you will be able to pay by credit card, debit card, or PayPal so as to complete your enrollment.

Special member rate for the spring and summer sessions for new and former members:

  • $50 – for new members applying for the spring and summer sessions.
  • $75 – for former members applying for the spring and summer sessions.

Contact our office for more information at 718.951.5647 or email us at BLL@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Want to Try a Class Before Joining?

If you’d like to attend a class or two before joining, we welcome you to try it out. Contact us by phone or e-mail for information.

P: 718.951.5647
E: BLL@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Benefits

Your BLL membership card entitles you to attend as many BLL classes, workshops, and special events as you wish. In addition, your card is your free ticket to almost everything within Brooklyn College’s gates. Just show your card to:

Use the Brooklyn College Library

You may browse, read, or borrow books. Books may be borrowed for 21 days and renewed if nobody is waiting for them.

Attend Free Wolfe Institute Lectures

Specialists in their fields speak on art, science, politics, history, urban, gender issues, etc. There are also literary readings and music performances. Wolfe Institute fliers are posted outside the office, 2231 Boylan Hall, and on the institute’s website.

Use the Computers Around the Campus

Computers are available in the New Media Center on the second floor of the library, the Computer Corner in the Student Center, the Learning Center on the first floor of Boylan Hall, and the ITS Computing Lab in the West End Building. Computer use is free when you show your card, but you must pay 10 cents per page for printing. At the Library Café, located at the side entrance to Whitehead Hall, you can help yourself to the information sheets on using a computer from the rack in the café.

Learn the Computer or Upgrade Your Computer Skills

Take the Library Café Weekend Workshops or Club Hour Workshops. The sessions range from basic computer skills for beginners to using Power Point. Get information and sign up at the Library Café.

Eat Lunch in the Cafeteria in the Basement of Boylan Hall

Get sandwiches, salads, hot dishes, and Starbucks coffee, or bring your own sandwich. For a quiet sit-down meal at a reasonable price, try the Georgian Room, located through the stairway hallway between the cafeteria and the former bookstore at the east wing of Boylan Hall. Note: the cafeteria is currently closed.

Sit and Watch the Seasons Change

The Lily Pond behind the library or the Brooklyn College Garden at the end of the athletic field near the Ocean Avenue entrance are wonderful places for discussions or reflection.

Take a Trip

Watch your mail for announcements of trips for members to places of interest near and far. The trip fee covers transportation, meals, tickets, sightseeing, and hotels.

Testimonials

From our Members

“It is so very important to keep busy in our senior years. Having exciting events to attend helps to keep the brain stimulated and add new experiences and new friends to my life. I missed meeting people from all cultures. BLL fills that need.”—Colleen Cox

“It has been 50 years since I sat in a Brooklyn College class. Participating in the Short Story discussion class brings back pleasant memories and makes me feel young again!”—Mady Kiner

“I enjoy the many learning opportunities and social interaction with my peers. My particular interest is films and politics/history, but there is a wide range of subject matter available.”—Len Rudorfer

Members have written letters of appreciation and testimonials. These speak movingly of the impact that IRPE, BLL’s predecessor name, has had on their lives. Excerpts from some letters follow.

“I have been a member of IRPE for several years, attending classes, serving on committees, arranging an annual lecture series, and giving a few lectures myself. This is the best ‘school’ that I have ever attended because the teachers are sharp, the students are even smarter than the teachers, and the atmosphere is one of warmth and friendship. There are no grades and no competing for grades or attention. We talk about books, history, and ideas new and old, and have a very good time.”—Toby Sanchez

“I cannot imagine life without this daily program of countless classes on various subjects given by volunteer educators. My attendance over the years has kept me mentally alert and socially active. I shudder to think of how drab life would have been had not Brooklyn College offered this program of continuous education. I feel I have grown in my old age and feel qualified to extol the value of this program. May it never ever end.”—Lillian Alpert

“I met two wonderful lifelong friends at IRPE. Even though one moved away, we still correspond as if we were sisters. The first friend always helps me with my anniversary parties. I attended her husband’s surprise 80th birthday party.”—Tobby Rose Morgenstern

Those who teach our classes are also deeply affected by the experience.

“My greatest satisfaction comes from teaching Prize-winning Novels. Our book discussion group is now in its 15th term, and most of the same people come back year after year. We have formed a community of peers, drawn together by our love of books and our interest in each other’s ideas. Many of us have formed friendships within the group that carry over into the rest of our lives.”—Harriet Sirof

“IRPE was the second home of my late husband, a former college professor. For about 14 years, it provided the happiest teaching experiences of his life. He was able to create new courses every semester without going through roadblocks. He would propose an idea for a new course, the Program Committee would approve it, and he was then busy at the library every day, preparing the course for his attentive students. This was, for him, total happiness.”—Toby Sanchez

And a “thank you” from one of our members:

“For the years of music, in all its variety, beauty, and delight, my thanks and appreciation—ongoing—for the aural and visual pleasure you added, for the interesting and illuminating introductions, for your generosity in sharing your erudition, selection, equipment, and expertise, and for you. You have my heartfelt thanks.”—Paula Elkin

Brooklyn. All in.