GIVE OUR LIBRARY BACK!

Since October 2020, the Kew Gardens Hills branch of the Queens Public Library has been taken over by the city for use as a Covid-19 testing site. This has deprived our community of one of its vital services, an integral aspect of the neighborhood now gone. This is not the first time that Kew Gardens Hills has been slighted when it comes to our tax supported library services. For an unbelievably long four and a half years, while the present building was undergoing renovation, our "library" was a tiny cramped storefront that was virtually nothing more than a place to pick up and return books. Now we cannot even do that at our neighborhood branch. Seniors, the disabled, families with young children, and others who are wary or unable to traveling distances during the pandemic, are forced to go outside the neighborhood for Grab & Go service which was a concerning hardship during the cold and inclement weather.  Now, with hot weather approaching will our branch still be closed for services, which in addition to books, includes a valuable cooling center for so many in need?

The Kew Gardens Hills branch should be a library again. Pre-covid it was one of the busiest branches in the system, and a host to many free programs for children, teens and adults, a number of them created and paid for by our very active Friends group. The community wants to know when our library will be restored to its proper function. There are no longer lines wrapping around the block for  Covid 19 testing. Often, there are no lines at all, no people waiting for tests inside or outside the building.

Our branch was a vital part of our community life. It needs to be that again.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO LET MAYOR de BLASIO AND OUR OUR LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS KNOW THAT WE WANT OUR LIBRARY BACK NOW!!!