Queens Borough President Helen Marshall is helping four Queens libraries provide better services for the public, thanks to nearly $1.6 million she recently allocated for improvement.
The branches – Glendale, Rosedale, Baisley and Middle Village – will each receive $400,000 to upgrade their technology, including installing self-checkout and public access stations, touch screen monitors, security gates and new furniture.
On September 9, Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, who represents Glendale and Middle Village, and Queens Library Chief Executive Officer and Director Thomas Galante presented a $400,000 check to the Glendale library.
Crowley pointed out that the Glendale community library will be a “more inviting” and comfortable space, where families can retreat and enjoy their reading.
In addition, Crowley said the funding will increase the variety and the amount of books to choose from and help those suffering through the economic crunch check out books that might be too pricey to buy.
“I strongly believe that investing in our local library is money well spent because it has the opportunity to become a cornerstone of the community,” Crowley said.
Galante said the funding will not only “rejuvenate and update the interior” of Glendale’s library, but will provide a new “elevator and staircase connecting the main and lower level floors of the library” and a “beautiful Renaissance garden adjacent to the newly-renovated lower level.”
In addition to the Glendale branch, Marshall also recently joined with library officials at the reopening of library branches in Rosedale, Baisley and Middle Village – the three other branches that received the $400,000 in funding.
Marshall, who is a former teacher and founder of the Langston Hughes Library in Corona, has allocated more than $81 million to new libraries, expansions and renovations since she became Borough President in 2002.
The Queens Borough Public Library has one of the highest circulation s in the world, and in Fiscal Year 2009 had a record 23 million items in circulation.
