EARLY VOTING FOR JUNE 22 PRIMARIES IS NOW OPEN. LEARN MORE AT POLITICSNY.COM
Your Neighborhood — Your News®
THE NEWSPAPER OF JAMAICA, HOLLIS & ST. ALBANS
75 cents
June 18-June 24, 2021
QUEENS PUBLIC LIBRARY MARKS ITS 125TH
ANNIVERSARY WITH TIME CAPSULE BURIAL
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
In celebration of the 125th
anniversary of the Queens
Public Library (QPL), Queens
Borough President Donovan
Richards and Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer joined
QPL President and CEO Dennis
M. Walcott, staff and P.S.
171 students for the burial of
a time capsule at the Astoria
branch on June 7.
The time capsule, which
will be unearthed and
opened in 2046, contains a
laminated letter from Dennis
M. Walcott along with handwritten
messages from Richards
and Van Bramer, letters
from P.S. 171 students, a QPL
mask as a reminder of the
COVID-19 pandemic, a QPL
lapel pin, a historic photo of
the Astoria library signed
by its staff, blueprints of the
construction project and a
laminated invitation to the
125th anniversary gala.
It also contains a USB
flash drive with a welcome
message from QPL President
Walcott and videos about
the library’s history, as well
as events and programs the
library posted during the
pandemic.
Walcott gave a quick history
lesson at the event. He
pointed out that the current
Astoria library building, located
at 14-01 Astoria Blvd.,
was built in 1904 and was
P.S. 171 students Tasniha Islam and Willian Lema, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards,
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, and Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott bury
the time capsule outside the Astoria library. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
one of the four remaining
Carnegie libraries funded
by philanthropist Andrew
Carnegie.
The lifelong Queens resident
said he took great pride
in the Queens Public Library
system and was excited to
celebrate the 125th anniversary
with a time capsule
burial.
“It’s really just commemorating
the history of the library
and also planning for
the future of the library. But
most importantly, it’s for the
people who will open up the
time capsule in the future,”
Walcott said.
Richards — who paused
to quickly do the math and
realized that he would be 63
years old in 2046 — thanked
QPL for helping Queens residents
overcome the isolation
many experienced during
the COVID-19 pandemic with
virtual programs and books.
“You will be able to send a
message that you persevered
after a once-in-a-lifetime
pandemic and that we did
not just go back to normal,
but to a new normal,” Richards
said while addressing
the students from P.S. 171. “A
new normal where we have
learned to respect each other
in messages told in books
from the beginning of time.”
Tasniha Islam and Willian
Lema, the fifth-grade
salutatorians from P.S. 171
in Astoria, read the letters
they wrote for the time
capsule.
Before the burial of the
time capsule, Richards declared
June 7 as Queens
Public Library Day and presented
a proclamation commemorating
the nation’s second
largest library system
— with 66 locations throughout
Queens — serving the
country’s most ethnically
and culturally diverse area.
Walcott also announced
that more events celebrating
125 years of instilling a love
for reading are in the works.
Vol. 9 No. 25 52 total pages
Now open in Kew Gardens too.
orlincohen.com
Teed off by shoulder pain?
We’ve Got Specialists
For That SM
/POLITICSNY.COM
/orlincohen.com
