Queens libraries among finalists for annual award

Flickr/Stewart Butterfield
Flickr/Stewart Butterfield

Three Queens libraries, including the Arverne Library and the Far Rockaway Library, are among the ten finalists for the third annual NYC Neighborhood Library Award.

The award recognizes libraries that are the “unsung heroes” of their communities. The top five winners will receive a $20,000 prize, while the remaining five will each get $10,000.

“Arverne Library goes out of their way to make us feel comfortable and the kids love going there after school,” said John, a neighborhood resident. “It means a lot to us that we can send our kids somewhere we feel they are safe and the staff knows them.”

Betty, a Far Rockaway resident, said after Hurricane Sandy, the library became a “beam of light” for the public.

“We held meetings there, we looked for jobs there, we consoled each other there, we used the internet and so many more things that others took for granted,” she said. “Since Hurricane Sandy, it has become more relevant because the employees embraced the public and a “Work Force Center” had been established at this site.”

The Glen Oaks Library rounded out the finalists from Queens.

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