WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES FEBRUARY 3, 2022 23
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
How Queens Public Library brought a branch to Woodhaven
BY WOODHAVEN CULTURAL AND
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie was
one of the richest men in American
history, and later in life he became a
philanthropist who funded the building
of libraries around the world. More
than 2,500 Carnegie libraries were built
around the world, including nearly
1,700 in the United States and one in
Woodhaven, Queens.
By the start of the 20th century,
Woodhaven was expanding to the north.
Much of the community had originally
settled around University Place (95th
Avenue, in what is today known as
Ozone Park). The rest of Woodhaven
was open space, mostly farmland.
Woodhaven’s very fi rst library was a
small traveling station founded in 1911
by Dr. Albert L. Voltz. It was located
on Jamaica Avenue at Manor Avenue
(between 94th and 95th streets today).
Traveling libraries were a popular way
of bringing book collections to rural areas,
such as Woodhaven was at the time.
As farms were sold and houses built,
the population increased dramatically.
Transportation lines were built
and improved. Buildings went up and
businesses opened all along Jamaica
Avenue. More schools were needed and,
eventually, the need for a permanent
library became clear.
The Queens Public Library (founded
in 1896) opened a branch at the corner
of Dennington and Jamaica avenues in
Woodhaven. Today, customers at the
Kentucky Fried Chicken on 88th Street
and Jamaica Avenue might be surprised
to hear that this used to be the location
of Woodhaven’s fi rst permanent library.
In the early 1920s Woodhaven’s
population showed no signs of slowing
down and by 1922 the Queens Public
Library determined that Woodhaven
had shown a greater increase in readers
than any other community in New York
City.
And so, plans for a new library were
announced. But the city announced that
it didn’t have money to spare and here
enters the legacy of Mr. Carnegie, who
had passed away a few years earlier in
1919 at the age of 83.
The Queens Public Library had been
the recipient of a large Carnegie Library
grant, but by 1922 the money was
nearly gone. Only $40,000 remained,
not enough for the estimated $75,000
it would take to build a new library in
Woodhaven.
The Queens Public Library appealed
to the Board of Estimate
for the additional funds, but they
were turned down as the board
wanted to use the money for “local
Courtesy of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
improvements.” A local organization
was formed, the Permanent Joint
School and Library Committee of
Woodhaven, and they took their case
to the press, making loud noises in
favor of a new library.
Queens Borough President Maurice
E. Connolly entered the controversy
and saved the day by pointing to a balance
of unused funds allotted to street
cleaning from the year before. The
Board of Estimate voted to allow $35,000
of this fund to be added to the Carnegie
funds to reach the $75,000 needed to
build.
Woodhaven’s Robert F. Schirmer was
hired as the architect (shortly aft er this,
he would go on to design the new St. Matthew’s
Episcopal Church on 96th Street).
The design called for the library to be
built from brick and stone, measuring
70 by 32 feet, with a reading room and a
lecture room in the basement.
They estimated that there would
be room for 22,000 books in the new
Woodhaven Library.
A 100-by-100-foot plot was purchased
at the corner of Forest Parkway and
Shipley Street (now 85th Drive) and
the cornerstone was laid during a
large ceremony on Saturday, July 7, 1923.
New York City Mayor John F. Hylan was
scheduled to be in attendance but failed
to show.
But Hylan’s no-show didn’t seem to
bother the large crowd that assembled
that day; they were just very excited to
see the brand-new library get built. The
invocation was read by the Reverend
John Donaldson, Pastor of the Union
Course Baptist Church (still in business
as All Nations Baptist Church on 80th
Street).
And James Pasta, the very first
commander of American Legion Post
118 Woodhaven, delivered a patriotic
address.
The Queens Public Library Woodhaven
Branch formally opened its
doors on Monday, Jan. 7, 1924, at 3 P.M.
It was completed for $70,000 ($5,000
under budget). And not only was the
architect from Woodhaven, but the
builder, Henry Berau (of Berau Fraser)
was also a resident.
There was a lot to be proud of that day
and nearly 100 years later, the library
that Woodhaven hoped and prayed for
is still going strong.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood: The
Way It Was” that you would like to share
with our readers, please write to the Old
Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com. Any
print photographs mailed to us will be
carefully returned to you upon request.
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