The Queens Public Library (QPL), also known as the Queens Borough Public Library and Queens Library (QL), is the public library for the borough of Queens, and one of three public library systems serving New York City. It is one of the largest library systems in the world by circulation, having loaned 13.5 million items in the 2015 fiscal year, and one of the largest in the country in terms of the size of its collection. According to its website, the library holds about 7.5 million items, of which 1.4 million are at its central library in Jamaica, Queens.[1] It was named "2009 Library of the Year" by Library Journal.
Although it was organized in 1858 on a subscription basis, the original Central Library on Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica was opened in 1930 and later expanded with a four-story Renaissance Revival themed architecture.[2] Dating back to the foundation of the first Queens library in Flushing in 1858, Queens Public Library has become one of the largest public library systems in the United States, comprising 62 branches throughout the borough. Queens Public Library serves Queens' population of almost 2.3 million, including one of the largest immigrant populations in the country. Consequently, a large percentage of the library's collections are in languages other than English, particularly Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Russian.[3] Queens Public Library is separate from both the New York Public Library, which serves the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and the Brooklyn Public Library, which serves only Brooklyn.
History
Old Central Library
The first library in Queens was founded in 1858 in Flushing as a subscription service. It became a free circulation library in 1869.[4]
In the late 19th century, several local libraries were founded in western Queens. The libraries in Astoria, Long Island City and Steinway formed the Long Island City Public Library in 1896, becoming Queens' first multi-branch library. In 1901, shortly after the consolidation of Queens into New York City, the city government proposed a new charter joining all libraries in Queens into the Queens Borough Public Library. All of the public libraries signed on, except for Flushing, which remained independent until 1903.[5] The Queens Borough Public Library was officially incorporated in 1907.[6]
Due to the wide variation in population density in Queens, in 1906, the Queens Borough Public Library established small branches in store-fronts and shopping areas under the Traveling Library program. With these branches, Queens Library grew swiftly, eventually opening major branches in almost every Queens neighborhood.
The original Central Library on Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica was opened in 1930 and expanded with Works Progress Administration funds in 1941. It was a splendid four-story Renaissance Revival building. In spite of its elegance, it was too small for the demand and was replaced by a new, more spacious facility in 1966, through the persistent efforts of the Library Director, Harold W. Tucker.
Original Far Rockaway branch, later destroyed by fire
$240,000 donated by Andrew Carnegie was used for the construction of seven new Carnegie libraries between 1904 and 1924 in the most heavily populated areas of the borough. Four of these buildings (Astoria, Poppenhusen, Richmond Hill and Woodhaven) are still in use. They are characterized by their stately solidity and expensive decorative details. The Carnegie-era Flushing Branch was demolished for a more modern building in the 1950s, and the Far Rockaway Branch was destroyed by fire in 1962.[5]
Library branches were added slowly as the borough's population expanded. By 1946, Queens Borough Public Library had 44 branches plus the Central Library and a very active bookmobile.[5]
Many additional branches had been approved to be built between 1954 and 1965, but were not completed due to a New York City fiscal crisis. Additional funds were given to the library system by the federal Library Services and Construction Act to finish the Central Library, Flushing and Far Rockaway branches. In the 1990s interest in completing the proposed branches was revived. In 1998, the new Queens Borough Public Library at Flushing was opened, and four other branches were opened between 1999 and 2007. The Queens Library was allocated more than $269 million in capital funds between fiscal years 2005 and 2013.
The Queens Borough Public Library was renamed the Queens Library sometime in the past. In April 2019, it was renamed again to Queens Public Library, with the new tagline "We speak your language".[7][8]
Queens Public Library has 62 locations, seven Adult Learning Centers, two Family Literacy Centers, and a Mobile Library.
Central Library
Central Library was the first major branch of an urban library to place all public services on one floor. The library cost $5.7 million and contained 195,000 square feet (18,100m2) of floor space. The library was renovated and expanded in 1989. Additional renovation and expansion was expected to be completed in 2013. A new Children's Library Discovery Center, adjacent to the main library, was designed by 1100 Architect and opened in 2011.[10]
Central Library includes resources that support education and research through the college level. A local history collection (The Archives at Queens Library) houses thousands of photographs, books and ephemera having to do with the history of Queens and the four counties of Long Island. Other special collections include job search/readiness information and training and consumer health information.
International Resource Center
Queens Library at Flushing is home to the International Resource Center (IRC). It contains books, magazines, CDs and DVDs that represent cultures from all over the world. Queens Library at Flushing has collections in many non-English languages, including Bengali, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.
Black Heritage Reference Center
The Langston Hughes Library in Corona is home to the Black Heritage Reference Center,[11] which contains materials "written by, about, for, with and related to Black Culture." It is the largest collection of materials dedicated solely to Black culture in New York State.
Archives at Queens Library
The Archives at Queens Library, formerly known as the Long Island Division, is a special collection in the Central Library building that focuses on the history of Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. The Archives was first founded in 1912. It consists of books, publications, current and historical newspapers, family manuscripts and genealogical material, historical maps and atlases including Belcher Hyde and Sanborn Company maps, late 19th- and early 20th-century photographs, as well as other archival material.[12]
Historic marker outside the Woodhaven branch
The Queens Memory Project, a digital archive which aims to record and preserve contemporary history across the borough of Queens, is a collaborative effort between Queens College and Queens Public Library that includes digitized materials from the Archives.
Programs and services
A chess players' cafe
Queens Public Library has long had a variety of services to aid children and teens.
STACKS
18 Queens Public Library branches participate in the STACKS program, a core-curriculum based after school enrichment program. The program aims to provide homework materials, homework tutors, and monitors. Every Queens Public Library branch also provides an assortment of enriching activities and clubs for children and teens daily.
Services for new immigrants
Queens Public Library has long been a leader in using library services to help new Americans acculturate. Popular reading and multimedia collections are available in all major immigrant languages in Queens. Coping skills programs and cultural arts programs are conducted in the immigrant languages to attract newcomers. Thousands of people attend free formal classes to learn English and attend informal conversation groups to improve their fluency. Family literacy programs take an inter-generational approach to learning English and include practical information about living in NYC. Programs in civics education, Pathways to Citizenship, programs to help foreign-born professionals gain U.S. certifications, and many other educational, informational and cultural programs make Queens Public Library a model for libraries worldwide.[13] Out-of-state residents can use the QPL for an annual fee of $50.[14]
Services to job seekers
Inside the Central Library
Queens Public Library offers intensive assistance for those who wish to find employment and/or upgrade their job skills. Free services include in-person and online job skills assessments, workshops on dozens of topics that improve computer literacy skills, online learning that leads to professional job skills certifications, resume review, interview preparation, job search assistance. Through a partnership with Workforce 1, job placement assistance is available at the Flushing branch, and near the Central Library in Jamaica.[15]
Consumer health
Queens Public Library offers consumer health information at all library locations. Through Queens Library HealthLink and Queens Library ConnectCare, library users will receive assistance in finding free or low cost health screenings and/or appointments with primary healthcare providers, regardless of insurance.[16]
↑ "Facts"(PDF). Queens Library. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 11, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
↑ "History". Queens Public Library. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023.
↑ "Queens Library". queenslibrary.org. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2011. New American Program Collections accessed on December 10, 2008
The Long Island Rail Road, often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. The railroad currently operates a public commuter rail service, with its freight operations contracted to the New York and Atlantic Railway. With an average weekday ridership of 354,800 passengers in 2016, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that runs 24/7 year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 75,186,900, or about 253,800 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest of the five New York City boroughs by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Island and by Nassau County to its east. Queens shares water borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as with New Jersey.
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, often referred to as Flushing Meadows Park, or simply Flushing Meadows, is a public park in the northern part of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. It is bounded by I-678 on the east, Grand Central Parkway on the west, Flushing Bay on the north, and Union Turnpike on the south. Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is the fourth-largest public park in New York City, with a total area of 897 acres (363 ha).
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress and the fourth-largest public library in the world. It is a private, non-governmental, independently managed, nonprofit corporation operating with both private and public financing.
Corona is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It borders Flushing and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hills and Rego Park to the south, Elmhurst to the southwest, and East Elmhurst to the north. Corona's main thoroughfares include Corona Avenue, Roosevelt Avenue, Northern Boulevard, Junction Boulevard, and 108th Street.
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfield Gardens, Rochdale Village to the southeast; South Jamaica to the south; Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park to the west; Briarwood to the northwest; and Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Hills, and Jamaica Estates to the north.
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the borough of Queens in New York City. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, Queens College occupies an 80-acre (32 ha) campus primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 countries.
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two other public library systems in New York City, it is an independent nonprofit organization that is funded by the city and state governments, the federal government, and private donors. In marketing materials, the library styles its name as Bklyn Public Library.
The Flushing–Main Street station is the eastern terminal on the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway, located at Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Downtown Flushing, Queens. It is served by the 7 local train at all times and the <7> express train during rush hours in the peak direction.
Fresh Meadows is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. Fresh Meadows used to be part of the broader town of Flushing and is bordered to the north by the Horace Harding Expressway and Auburndale; to the west by Pomonok, St. John's University, Hillcrest, and Utopia; to the east by Cunningham Park and the Clearview Expressway; and to the south by the Grand Central Parkway.
Education in New York City is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. New York City has the largest educational system of any city in the world. The city’s educational infrastructure spans primary education, secondary education, higher education, and research. New York City is home to some of the most important libraries, universities, and research centers in the world. In 2006, New York had the most post-graduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, 40,000 licensed physicians, and 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions. The city receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health among all U.S. cities. It also struggles with disparity in its public school system, with some of the best-performing public schools in the United States as well as some of the worst-performing. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city embarked on a major school reform effort.
The Flushing River, also known as Flushing Creek, is a waterway that flows northward through the borough of Queens in New York City, mostly within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, emptying into the Flushing Bay and the East River. The river runs through a valley that may have been a larger riverbed before the last Ice Age, and it divides Queens into western and eastern halves. Until the 20th century, the Flushing Creek was fed by three tributaries: Mill Creek and Kissena Creek on the eastern bank, and Horse Brook on the western bank.
Main Street is a major north–south street in the borough of Queens in New York City, extending from Queens Boulevard in Briarwood to Northern Boulevard in Flushing. Created in the 17th century as one of Flushing's main roads, Main Street has been lengthened at various points in its existence.
The Queens Memory Project is a community archiving program which aims to record and preserve contemporary history across the New York City borough of Queens. Community archives are created in response to needs defined by the members of a community, who may also exert control over how materials are used. The project is a collaborative effort between Queens College, City University of New York and Queens Public Library that was initially funded in 2010 through a grant from the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). Materials in the archive are made accessible to the public through a website which contains oral history interviews and photographs documenting the lives of Queens residents. The stories and images are presented alongside digitized historical photographs, maps, news clippings and other archival records. The goal of the project is to allow visitors to the site to view otherwise scattered archival materials and personal stories in a searchable database of collective memory representing the borough of Queens.
The Store Front Museum was a community museum in Queens, New York that served as a cultural center and exhibition space for the black community of the borough. Established in 1971 by artist Tom Lloyd, it was originally located on Liberty Avenue, in a former retail tire dealer building.
The Q20A and Q20B and Q44 bus routes constitute the Main Street Line, a public transit line in Queens, New York City, running primarily along Main Street between two major bus-subway hubs in the neighborhoods of Jamaica and Flushing. The Q20A/B terminates in College Point at the north end of Queens. The Q44 continues north into the borough of the Bronx, terminating in the West Farms neighborhood near the Bronx Zoo. The Q44 is one of two Queens bus routes to operate between the two boroughs.
Queens Directories – of New York City – were, before 1898, an assortment of village directories, Queens County directories, Long Island Directories, and add-ins or partial inclusions to New York City directories. In 1898, 30% of the western part of the old Queens County was absorbed into New York City. Before 1898, Nassau County covered the eastern 70% of the old Queens County. The older, larger Queens County was mostly agricultural, and within it were several towns, villages, and hamlets. In the mid- to late-19th century, cemeteries constituted one of the larger industries in Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), and Westchester Counties. As of 1898, Queens County, New York, and the Borough of Queens, New York City, geographically, have been the same. Both Queens and Brooklyn are on Long Island.
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