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Libraries

The Queens Public Library (QPL), also known as the Queens Borough Public Library and Queens Library (QL), is the public library for the borough of Queens, and one of three public library systems serving New York City. It is one of the largest library systems in the world by circulation, having loaned 13.5 million items in the 2015 fiscal year, and one of the largest in the country in terms of the size of its collection. According to its website, the library holds about 7.5 million items, of which 1.4 million are at its central library in Jamaica, Queens.[1] It was named "2009 Library of the Year" by Library Journal. Dating back to the foundation of the first Queens library in Flushing in 1858, Queens Public Library has become one of the largest public library systems in the United States, comprising 62 branches throughout the borough. Queens Public Library serves Queens' population of almost 2.3 million, including one of the largest immigrant populations in the country. Consequently, a large percentage of the library's collections are in languages other than English, particularly Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Russian.[2] Queens Public Library is separate both from the New York Public Library, which serves Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island, and from the Brooklyn Public Library, which serves only Brooklyn.

The Queens Public Library operates four branches in Jamaica:

  1. The Baisley Park branch at 117-11 Sutphin Boulevard
  2. The Central Library at 89-11 Merrick Boulevard
  3. The Rochdale Village branch at 169-09 137th Avenue
  4. The South Jamaica branch at 108-41 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard

An additional two branches are located nearby:

The Central Library Building at Parsons Boulevard and 89th Avenue, Jamaica, Queens, November 14, 1935. The Queens Borough Public Library occupied this building from its opening in 1929 until the opening of the present Central Library at Merrick Boulevard and 89th Avenue in 1966. From 1971 to 2003 the building was the site of the Queens County Family Court. The building is currently undergoing demolotion. A new 12-story mixed use structure will retain the old building's facade.