Flushing’s ‘Sanctuary of the Mind’ Opens Doors

Moments before she had assembled with a couple of dozen of her classmates from P.S. 20 in Flushing to watch City officials cut the ribbon that opened the $35 million, four-story glass-frosted building to the public.
"I’ll be here at least once a week ," promised the 10-year-old garbed in a colorful traditional Korean dress known as a hanbok, as she oohed and aahed over the new facility.
A fifth grade classmate, Gloria Kon, sporting a glamorous chong san, made from her grandmother’s wedding gown, agreed with Grace.
"I will come here often," she said. "I like books and computers too."
Gloria and Grace will have plenty to choose from. In fact, according to Ruth Herzberg, the branch librarian, the new library holds 350,000 books, cassettes, periodicals and other library items.
The new branch was a magnet for the press and public officials in events on Friday and Saturday of last week. The dedication ceremony on June 19 drew an estimated 300 library enthusiasts.
City Council Speaker Peter Vallone sounded the theme that "the mind is the greatest weapon and that if libraries decline so too will truth."
Looking at the schoolkids from P.S. 20, Vallone told them that "when you walk through these doors and open a book there are no limitations."
In introducing Borough President Claire Shulman, the Speaker said that her name should be on the building.
The Borough President responded that she already has a bald eagle named for her at the Queens Wildlife Center in Flushing Meadow Park.
"This is a great day for Flushing," Shulman said. "It’s now the largest branch in the state and maybe in the country."
Msgr. Thomas Gradilone, president of the Library Board of Trustees, said that two millennia ago Alexandria’s library contained 700,000 manuscripts and a smaller adjoining library held 50,000 manuscripts.
"If you think of the computers in place here this library is so much larger," he said.
Library Director Gary E. Strong hosted the ceremony on June 19.
"This is a sanctuary of the mind," he said.
Michael Burton of the City’s Design and Construction Dept., called the Flushing Library "a spectacular box."
The Queens Borough Public Library system is the largest in the country, according to the American Library Assoc. Queens library officials say it is the second largest in the world, second only to Singapore’s libraries.
The Queens system has 62 branches with holdings of 8.8 million books and a circulation of 15.5 million.
First-time visitors to the Flushing branch examined the 80 computer stations, an international resource center and an auditorium with infrared earphones for United Nations-style simultaneous translations.
The branch was clearly designed with the neighborhood’s ethnic mix in mind. Books in dozens of languages line the shelves. It reflects the fact that one-third of the Borough’s population is foreign born.
Queens residents speak more than 100 languages, while the system circulates material in more than 40 of them, including Spanish,Chinese, Icelandic, Zulu and Greek.
A special feature of the Flushing library is its World LinQ service which is available to non-English speaking customers.
According to Hye Kyoung Kim, who manages the Korean language site, there is a huge demand for this service from Koreans living in Flushing.
"It’s very specific," she said, pointing out that it showcases jobs around the world.
"If a Korean-American returns to Korea he or she can find available jobs there."
Also available are lists of companies in Queens and throughout the City looking for Korean workers.
"The people who use our library are highly motivated," Library Director Strong adds. "They want jobs. They want to learn how to live in America."
The International Resource Center cites the Persian poet, Sa’ib of Tabiz (1601-1677) who wrote:
"What does it profit you that all the libraries of the world should be yours? Not knowledge but what one does with knowledge is your profit."
The library is community oriented. Already planned are approximately 1,000 free educational, literary and cultural programs to meet the needs of its diverse population.
Balloons and marching bands greeted the opening of the new Flushing Library last weekend.