Even with prospective crippling budget cuts on the horizon, Queens Library is actually expanding its reach as it announced a new policy of accepting consulate identifications from immigrants looking to apply for a library card.
Library officials and advocates made the announcement on Monday, May 18 at the Flushing branch of the Queens Library located on Main Street, and the new policy allows undocumented immigrants with a consulate ID to access the Queens Library.
“We want everyone to have the opportunity and come to access the library system,” Guillermo Linares, the Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said at the announcement on Monday.
Fred Gitner, who is a coordinator for New American Programs at the Queens Library, explained that the library offers many free programs including English classes, health workshops, financial seminars and many other activities that are beneficial to immigrants.
“Queens libraries are a wonderful resource,” Gitner said. “Our main goal in Queens is to get everyone a library card.”
More than a year ago, Jacqueline Donado, a writer and active member of the Hispanic community who also runs the New York Book Fair Expo, originally proposed the idea. On Monday, the Queens Library began accepting the consulate IDs along with a proof of address in order to obtain a library card.
“It has been a long way, but we finally got it,” Donado said.
The Queens Library serves 2.2 million people in the borough and has the highest circulation of any public library system in the U.S., and many people said that Queens, being the most diverse place in the country, was the perfect place to begin the program.
“This day is very important for our people,” said Francisco Noguera Rocha, who is the General Consul of Colombia. “Our people need to get the information and education that the library provides.”
