Friends of the Richmond Hill Library board members, Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, and Rebecca Alibatya, manager of the Richmond Hill Library, celebrated the library’s annual Christmas tree lighting outside the historic building at 118-04 Hillside Ave. Monday evening. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup
Their eyes fixed upon the building that has for more than a century been home to everyone from bookworms and students to the unemployed seeking help with job searches and resumes, the area residents who gathered for the Richmond Hill Library’s annual Christmas tree lighting Tuesday evening said the newly twinkling branches do more than illuminate the facility built with funds from the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie: They light the way to a space that has long played a pivotal role in the community and which needs significant renovation work.
A Christmas tree now shines outside the Richmond Hill Library, which was founded in 1899. The building it is now in was built with funds from Andrew Carnegie and opened in 1905.
From a revamped basement to new books and extended hours, members of the Friends of the Richmond Hill Library said they hope their recently rejuvenated organization will be able to bring increased attention and funding to a beloved facility that was founded in 1899 and became a branch of the Queens library system in 1901. The building it is now in, located at 118-14 Hillside Ave., was built with funds from Carnegie and opened in 1905.
“We’re putting together an advocacy campaign,” said Deborah Emin, the new president of the Friends of Richmond Hill Library and a resident of Kew Gardens. “We need books; our budget under [Mayor] Bloomberg was cut; we need to extend days; we need to extend hours. This library is so incredible – it’s so significant to the community.”
Emin and her fellow board members just joined the organization last month, and they said they aim to shed light on the historical building that includes a Works Progress Administration mural, painted by Philip Evergood, that depicts a pictorial history of Richmond Hill, which drew Manhattanites tired of the city’s chaos and grime to the serene and picturesque neighborhood around the turn of the 20th century.
As Richmond Hill has grown, the library has gone from accommodating a more suburban area to an increasingly populated and incredibly diverse neighborhood that is home to residents from countries around the globe.
Friends of the Library members said they would like to see the hours extended, which would be especially helpful to working patrons because the facility is now only open until 7 p.m. on weekdays and is closed on weekends.
“If we could increase hours, we’d like to put in a much larger [English as a Second Language] program,” Emin said. “And we could have more staff with more hours. Our downstairs and upstairs need renovations, and we could have a media center and homework area downstairs.”
“We could serve a lot more people if we could be open longer,” Emin continued.
The mural that is prominently painted in the Richmond Hill Library’s reading room was a Works Progress Administration project done by the artist Philip Evergood. The painting, which was likely finished in the fall of 1936, celebrates the founding of Richmond Hill by the lawyer Albon Plattman, who wanted to create a garden community away from the dirt and chaos of Manhattan.
State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach), who along with Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), attended the tree lighting, noted that the Friends of the Richmond Hill Library could appeal directly to the state for funding because state legislators no longer have access to discretionary funds – otherwise known as monies legislators allocated for groups within their districts.
“I’d like to see the library open on Saturdays – the school kids need that,” said Friends of the Library member Linda Meeth. “Working mothers would be able to come with their kids then.”
Alorde Allah, also a member of the Friends of the Richmond Hill Library, too stressed that the library suffers from a lack of books – and he noted it needs additional equipment, such as computers.
“My son got his list of books for the fifth grade, and we can’t get them all here – we need funding for books,” Allah said. “There’s a whole lot more we can do here to prepare for the next century.”
While the residents stressed the need for changes at the library, they also noted the variety of programs already available to the community, including daily events for children and a new reading series.
The next reading event will be held Jan. 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the library and will feature Masha Hamilton, the founder of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project.
Friends of the Richmond Hill Library board members Alorde Allah, left, Deborah Emin, and Linda Meeth, standing here in the library’s recently redecorated children’s room, said they would like to see a series of changes at the library, including a revamped basement space, extended hours, and more books.
By Anna Gustafson
