All Branches To Be Open Evenings
Every branch of the Queens Borough Public Library will be open during early evening hours on weeknights under a new system-wide operating schedule which will go into effect on Monday, Sept. 10, it was announced.
According to Thomas W. Galante, president and CEO of Queens Library, the new schedule aims to make local libraries and their resources more accessible for working folks and students. In addition to expanded nighttime hours of service, several large branches will also be open earlier on certain days.
“People depend on their library to support education for all ages, use the computers, for job training, healthcare referrals and so many of their day-to-day information needs,” Galante said in a press release issued last Friday, Aug. 17. “We need to be open when the greatest number of people can be assisted by trained information professionals.”
Most of the branches open only five days a week will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., Tuesdays from 2 to 7 p.m. and Wednesdays from 1 to 7 p.m. In the Times Newsweekly’s coverage area, they include the following:
– Corona (38-23 104th St.);
– Glendale (78-60 73rd Pl.);
– Howard Beach (92-06 156th Ave.);
– Lefrak City in Corona (98-30 57th Ave.);
– Middle Village (72-31 Metropolitan Ave.);
– North Forest Park in Forest Hills (98-27 Metropolitan Ave.);
– Rego Park (91-41 63rd Dr.);
– South Ozone Park (128-16 Rockaway Blvd.); and
– Woodside (54-22 Skillman Ave.),
Four branches in the Times Newsweekly coverage area will be open on Mondays, Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Tuesdays from 2 to 7 p.m. They are Maspeth (69-70 Grand Ave.), Ozone Park (92-24 Rockaway Blvd.), Richmond Hill (118-14 Hillside Ave.) and Woodhaven (85-41 Forest Pkwy.).
Another five-day-a-week branch, the Court Square location at 25-01 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City, will be open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1 to 7 p.m.
Eighteen branches which operate from Monday through Saturday each week will also have revised hours. Most of these locations will be open on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesdays from 2 to 7 p.m., Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
Locally, these branches include Elmhurst (temporarily operating at St. James Episcopal Church at 85-05 51st Ave.), Jackson Heights (35-51 81st St.), Langston Hughes in Corona (100-01 Northern Blvd.), Lefferts in Richmond Hill (103-34 Lefferts Blvd.), Long Island City (37-44 21st St.), Ridgewood (2012 Madison St.) and Sunnyside (43-06 Greenpoint Ave.).
Only the Central Library at 89-11 Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica will be open seven days a week. The branch will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesdays from 1 to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
Anyone who can’t get to their library during operating hours can still return materials anytime at 24-hour self-service kiosks installed at more than a third of Queens Library branches. Local branches with the self-serve machines include Corona, Jackson Heights, Langston Hughes, Long Island City, Maspeth, Middle Village, Rego Park, Ridgewood and Sunnyside.
For more information on the new service schedule, visit the library’s website, www.queenslibrary.org.
