The last Carnegie library completed in Queens, the Woodhaven site will include a self check-out service and a refurbished circulation desk when it reopens. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup
The Queens Library at Woodhaven will reopen on Tuesday, Aug. 20 and the revamped 90-year-old facility that was financed by Andrew Carnegie will boast a variety of improvements, officials said.
The newly redone facility, located at 85-41 Forest Pkwy., will include a new decor, a self check-out and self check-in, a new circulation desk and a handicap accessible restroom.
The library closed on Aug. 9 for the renovation work. During the closure, customers have been invited to use nearby libraries at 78-60 73rd Pl. in Glendale, 98-27 Metropolitan Ave. in North Forest Park and 118-14 Hillside Ave. in Richmond Hill. Individuals can also renew library materials online at www.queenslibrary.org or via phone at (718) 990-8508.
Renovation work has been going on since March, though the library had been operating out of the basement. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) allocated about $713,000 for the work.
The historic Woodhaven library opened in 1924 and was the last one in Queens to be funded by Carnegie, a Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929 – including 1,689 in the U.S. and others in Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, and the Caribbean.
The Woodhaven library is part of the Queens system that is a nonprofit corporation and is not affiliated with any other library. It serves a population of 2.3 million people and has among the highest circulations of any public library system in the world.
For more information about programs, services, locations, events, and news, visit the Queens Library website at www.queenslibrary.org, or call (718) 990-0700.
By Anna Gustafson
