By Bill Parry
The mobile library is returning to the Hunters Point waterfront. The new vehicle will park alongside the Hunters Point Library, which is still under construction, April 9 and return each Sunday until the new library opens this fall.
“We discontinued the bus on Saturdays last fall because Saturday service is now available at Court Square and the bus had outlived its useful life,” said Elisabeth de Bourbon, Queens Library director of communications. “The mobile bus is one of two that were manufactured in 2015 and serves neighborhoods where libraries are closed for construction or other reasons. The reason for adding mobile service on Sundays is that we want to reach out to the community before the Hunters Point Library opens, and there has been interest from the community in more mobile library service.”
City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside), the chairman of the Council’s Cultural Affairs and Libraries Committee asked Queens Library to restore the service in response to requests and concerns from Long Island City residents over the cancelled service.
“The services our libraries offer should be available and accessible to everyone,” Van Bramer said. “As we await the opening of the beautiful new Hunters Point Library that I am actively monitoring, I am focused on making sure residents of Long Island City do not go without the many benefits our libraries give.”
The bus will offer books, DVDs, free WiFi and library card sign-ups on Center Boulevard from noon to 5 p.m. each Sunday.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
