By Ivan Pereira
The Queens Library Foundation’s fund-raising initiative to secure more funds to pay for new materials is off to a good start, library officials said Tuesday.
The Buy-A-Book Campaign that was launched by the Queens Public Library’s volunteer fund-raising group, the Friends of the Queens Library, helped to raise $5,000 for the Hollis branch.
The Queens Library Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the Queens Public Library, matched those donations for a total of $10,000, according to a library spokeswoman.
The donations came from two neighborhood groups, the Hilltop Village co-op buildings 1, 2 and 4, which secured a combined $4,500, and the nonprofit Queens Youth and Senior Funding Corp., which secured the rest of the money, the library said.
Mary Boyd, president of Hilltop Village co-op No. 2, said the branch is popular among the tenants in her community, and they came out in large numbers to make donations for materials.
“We need all the help we can to keep that valuable library,” she said.
A special presentation of the checks attended by Queens Library CEO Thomas Gallante and City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) took place last week at the branch.
Since December, the Friends of the Library have been asking library users and neighborhood groups for donations to buy books, videos and other materials in light of budget cuts.
Marc Haken, president of both Hilltop Village co-op No. 4 and the Queens Youth and Senior Funding Corp., said this is not the end of the donations from his groups. More money will be raised by the various co-op presidents and he encouraged other library users to chip in for their branch’s future.
“The library wants to use this as an incentive for others to help buy books,” he said.
Log on to queenslibrary.org for more information on the program.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
