Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 2, No. 3 | The Queens Borough Public Library At the Crossroads of Technology (low bandwidth)

At the intersection of Main Street and Kissena Boulevard in Queens there is also a meeting of cultures and minds. Since 1891, this has been the site of the Flushing branch of the Queens Borough Public Library. In 1998, a new building, several times larger than it predecessor, became necessary as the community filled the library daily, in numbers far beyond its capacity. But this new branch is more than a larger version of the original, it represents a dramatic shift in the form, function and philosophy of the library.

“In a global community, this library stands at a crossroads of cultures, languages, traditions and all that is wonderful about the make-up of Queens,” says Yvonne Hoeft, the library’s public relations associate, pointing to the books in dozens of languages lining the shelves. “The library was redesigned with the neighborhood’s ethnic mix in mind.”

The library has always been a beacon for immigrants, in their efforts to both learn the language and customs of America and to retain their own. As the times have changed and the population of Queens has shifted from primarily native-born Americans to almost half having arrived from other countries, the library has made a point of making itself over to serve its new users.

“We are driven to change because of the cultural and ethnic diversity of Queens,” says Alan Wagner, manager of the library’s International Resource Center, which houses over 55,000 international items, making the Flushing branch the flagship of the largest public library system in the country. “A library has to be relevant to its customers or it will not continue to exist,” Wagner adds. “Many libraries keep doing things the way they did 20 years ago, but Queens changes every couple of weeks.”

The International Resource Center at the library is a citywide compendium of information and materials about the peoples, cultures and economies of the world. Designed for general readers with a serious interest in international subjects and for students from high school through the master’s degree level and business users at any level, the center provides a unique concentration of resources for global studies and international commerce. In addition to its extensive holding of books, the center subscribes to more than 250 newspapers, magazines and journals; it also circulates videos and DVDs of documentary and feature films from around the world, as well as recordings of ethnic and world music. Approximately 50 percent of the items are in English. The rest of the collection includes materials in 44 other languages, with Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Gujarati and Hebrew comprising the majority. Approximately 80 percent of the materials can be borrowed.

“Hundreds of items are unique to the International Resource Center,” Wagner says. “Whether they’re doing business in Bahrain, looking for a historical dictionary of Burundi, fiction from Bosnia, international videos or databases on the latest political and economic developments from around the world, visitors to the library will find what they want, guided by a knowledgeable, multilingual staff.”

The International Resource Center also offers the community lectures, seminars, conferences, concerts and theatrical presentations that are international in scope and free of charge. This type of outreach was considered essential to the design of the library, which has wide-open spaces, including meeting rooms, and a 227-seat state-of-the-art auditorium. “In actuality, this is at the very heart of the purpose of the library; establishing a dialogue that is inclusive of the different groups within the community and we are glad that we are able to do that here in Flushing,” says Wagner.

The library’s facilities also include an expansive children’s section, with computer workspace designed specifically for them, a young adult section, two exhibition areas, seating capacity for 300 people, and “quiet rooms” for research. Another important part of the library is its Adult Learning Center, designed to help immigrants learn to read, speak and write English through seminars and individualized programs.

The new Flushing library is also notable for the predominance of computers: there are 80 workstations, and library users with laptops can plug in right from their desks. All four floors of the library are wired for high-speed Internet access; two self-service computer check-out stations add to the hi-tech ambiance. There are also connections to dozens of online databases, including WordLinQ, the library’s multilingual electronic delivery system.

Some critics of the new hi-tech library worry that the culture of books can get lost with the emergence of new technologies. But the librarians at the Flushing branch disagree. “Actually, one of the positive things about technology is that it is a tool that helps people connect to books faster and more efficiently,” says Ruth Herzberg, manager of the Flushing branch. The technology also brings to the library resources that would not otherwise be available. “With electronic media, we can provide current information much faster than we ever could on paper,” says Hoeft.

As the leading library in the Queens system, the Flushing branch has taken the initiative in plunging into the new world of information technology and—even if judging by nothing other than how busy it is on a weekday afternoon—the community is clearly benefiting from its efforts. Andrew Carnegie once said, “It is from personal experience that I feel that there is no human arrangement so powerful for good, there is no benefit that can be bestowed upon a community so great, as that which places within the reach of all the treasures of the world which are stored up in books.” Today, he might have added, “or which can be accessed through a computer or on a disk.” At least he might have if he had visited Queens.