As of February 1, 2010, 14 Queens
Library locations will no longer be open on weekends, providing
Monday - Friday service only. Those libraries are the Queens
Libraries at: Arverne, Astoria, Baisley Park, Court Square, East
Elmhurst, East Flushing, Kew Garden Hills, Lefrak City, North Forest
Park, Ozone Park, Queensboro Hill, Ridgewood, South Hollis, and
Windsor Park. All other library locations will maintain their
current service levels.
The service reductions are necessitated by reductions in City and
State funding over the past two years.
In announcing the changes, CEO Thomas W. Galante said, “Reducing
service hours is a painful course of action. Queens Library has been
in a hiring freeze that began in 2008. At this time, we are forced
to reduce our service schedules as our workforce has been reduced.”
Library users are invited to use any of the other 48 library
locations on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Queens Library at
Central in Jamaica is open on Sunday from noon to 5 pm. Many
services are available through the library’s Website,
www.queenslibrary.org,
including downloadable ebooks, 24/7 chat reference service and
online research databases.
Queens Library is an independent, not-for-profit corporation and is
not affiliated with any other library. The Queens Library serves a
population of 2.2 million in the most ethnically diverse county in
the U.S. With a record 23 million items in circulation for FY 2009,
the library has the highest circulation of any public library system
in the U.S. and one of the highest circulations in the world. For
more information about programs, services, locations, events and
news, visit the Queens Library Web site at
www.queenslibrary.org or
phone 718-990-0700.