Hundreds of people gathered at the Flushing branch of the Queens Public Library on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the return of Sunday opening hours.
Sunday service has returned to the Flushing branch, at 41-17 Main St., and Central Library in Jamaica, at 89-11 Merrick Blvd., after the New York City Council secured the restoration of $58.3 million in funding to the city’s three public library systems for the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget.
Sunday service stopped at both branches last November after the city announced a 5% cut to public library funding in last year’s budget. The cuts also affected Sunday hours at libraries in the other boroughs where service has long been offered.
Hundreds of people, including dozens of families, rushed through the doors of the Flushing branch at noon on Sunday to welcome the return of Sunday opening hours and to celebrate the resumption of Sunday service.
Council Member Sandra Ung, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Queens Public Library President Dennis Walcott attended Sunday’s event.
The citywide funding, which includes $42.8 million in baseline funding, will also allow libraries across the city to increase and improve their physical and digital collections and allow those branches that have traditionally been open on Sundays to remain open.
Adams, who led the fight in the New York City Council to restore funding for public libraries, said the return of Sunday service meant “everything.”
“As you can see from the enormous reception that we’ve just gotten when those doors opened again [on a Sunday] for the first time since November, this is extremely important to this city. It’s extremely important to every single generation,” Adams told QNS in an interview at the Flushing branch during the reopening.
“Libraries are intergenerational and, walking through here today, the most significant thing for me is realizing what this community and communities across this city have lost since November.”
Ung said the return of a seven-day service is especially important, as the Flushing branch serves as a hub for the local community.
“We are an immigrant community, so the library is especially important,” Ung told QNS. “It’s more than just a place to borrow books. It’s a place where people will read their newspaper. We have books in different languages here, newspapers in different languages. Moreover, this is a trusted place for people to come.
“A lot of people actually find out about what’s going on in the community right here in this library. And that’s why it’s so important that it’s back open seven days a week.”
Walcott described the return of the seven-day service as an “exciting day” for New York City.
“A seven-day service is ideal for the public because they can come and take a look at books, they can look at materials, they can just get cool and relax,” Walcott said.
“It’s 15 minutes since we’ve been open, and the children’s section of the library is jam-packed already. So, this is responding to a need in the city of New York.”
The funding will see Sunday service return to the public libraries in Flushing and Jamaica, with all other libraries in Queens retaining a six-day service.
Adams said she hopes to see more libraries open seven days a week in the future.
“If we are seeing the loss of just this one particular library on one single day for several months, we can imagine the impact that it could have for all other libraries that could have that extra seventh day and be opened every day, every week.”
Adams added that the baselined funding will ensure that New York’s public libraries are “never used as bargaining chips” in the city budget again.
“It just makes the point even more that there is no way that we can ever sacrifice our libraries and our communities ever again,” Adams said. “This should never happen again.”
