Queens Public Library

About

The Queens Public Library (QPL), also known as the Queens Borough Public Library, 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. It was named "2009 Library of the Year" by Library Journal.

Although it was organized in 1858 on a subscription basis, the original Central Library on Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica was opened in 1930 and later expanded with a four-story Renaissance Revival themed architecture. 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. Queens Public Library is separate from both the New York Public Library, which serves the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and the Brooklyn Public Library, which serves only Brooklyn.