1907: Queens Library Millions Of Pages Later
By THERESA JUVA
The Central Library’s gallery often shows great art exhibits, such as the one that featured works inspired by Leonardo DaVinci.
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With 62 branches serving a population of 2.2 million people, the Queens Library has the largest circulation of books and informational materials in the country, a colossal feat considering its humble beginnings in Long Island City in the 1890s. In the book, “Lighting the Way: The Centennial History of the Queens Borough Public Library,” Jeffrey Kroessler explores the history of the public institution.
He notes that in 1895, Long Island City resident William Nelson received three buildings of subscription circulation libraries as payment on debts. Until then, libraries were set up as paid resources and when the Flushing Library Association was created in 1858, people paid $2 a year to borrow books, a policy that was abandoned by 1884 after library directors proclaimed that the library would now be opened to the public for free.
While this public library flourished, small privately-supported libraries in the towns of Hollis, Ozone Park and Queens Village struggled to keep their doors opened, and “these efforts reflected the civic pride and social responsibility of the good citizens in the these places, but those libraries were hardly open to all, and their survival depended upon private generosity. Nor did they benefit from a professional staff, relying instead on volunteers,” Kroessler writes.
An Idea Circulates
This all changed when Nelson opened a public library in Long Island City followed by the Steinway Free Circulating Library in 1896 and the Astoria Branch in 1898. The libraries were opened 77 hours a week, including the mornings of holidays and set a precedent for the libraries that would be created in the future.
Soon, branches were opened to the entire borough and acted as the catalyst for the private libraries in Hollis, Queens Village and Ozone Park to merge under the new umbrella of the Queens Borough Library.
By the turn of the century, every neighborhood in Queens was clamoring for their own library branch, including the Tax Payers Association of Rockaway, who appealed to the Queens Library Trustees to consider a library for the remote strip of land on the perimeter of the borough.
With limited resources, the Queens Library floundered until it received a large donation from Andrew Carnegie: $5.2 million in 1901 for New York City to construct 60 branches throughout the five boroughs.
According to the agreement laid out between the steel business titan and the City, the libraries ‘shall be accessible at all reasonable hours and times, free of expense,’ meaning that the libraries would be open everyday, except Sunday, and also on all legal holidays. Because Queens had the smallest population, it only received about $240,000 of the donation, which was used to build eight branches: Astoria, Far Rockaway, Flushing, Elmhurst, College Point, Richmond Hill and Woodhaven.
While branches sprouted throughout the borough, it wasn’t until 1907 that they were all officially incorporated and control was transferred from the City of New York to the borough. Kroessler notes that it was shortly thereafter that the Queens Library would experience some its greatest changes: “Changes came in rapid succession, and the Queens Borough Public Library would be hard pressed to serve a population increasing at a phenomenal rate.”
A Borough’s Boom
As bridges were built and new modes of transportation came chugging through the borough, libraries services also expanded and by 1915, in the midst of an immigration boom, Queens’s library circulation reached 1.5 million. The library was an epicenter not only for information, but children’s education. Daily hour-long story times would bring dozens of children to the library and served as a place for learning and reprieve from harsh weather outside, both in the summer and the winter.
The biggest population explosion occurred in the 1920s when the number of Queens residents skyrocketed from 470,000 to more than 1 million. The City could not keep up with the bursting borough, so the Queens Library took their books to the streets with traveling wagons, and even though this solved the problem of access, Queens experienced a shortage of skilled staff. Many librarians were drawn away from Queens because other boroughs like Manhattan and Brooklyn offered higher salaries for the same work.
As a result, in 1927, the Queens Library created its own school to cultivate future librarians. Despite the Queens Library’s efforts to stay one step ahead of sparse resources, in March 1926 it was forced to cut back hours and refuse new registrations. Working with a tight budget, the Queens Library was able to muster enough funds to erect “the grandest architectural achievement of the decade” with a four-story Renaissance revival style library on Parsons Boulevard in 1928—a building that drew 500 people, mostly schoolchildren, on the day of its opening, but failed to attract the attendance of the mayor or borough president.
Borough President Helen Marshall and Library Director Tom Galante peruse plans for the new Cambria Heights branch.
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But lack of recognition from officials would soon seem trivial with the Great Depression on the horizon. By 1929 and beyond, the country was suffering from a severe economic blow that put workers on the streets and brought goods production to a halt. This created a significant challenge for providers of a public library service that dealt with the hardship by designating a book bus that would travel around Queens and broadcast children’s stories over a radio; it drove 150 miles every week to 12 locations around the borough.
When children couldn’t reach the library, the library came to them. Federal money that rolled in through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program ensured libraries did not close and workers stayed on the payroll. This was especially important since people began relying on books more than ever, not only for information on things like using home materials for multiple purposes, but for entertainment from the drudgery of the Depression. The buildings themselves were essential in giving people a warm place when they could no longer afford to heat their homes.
A New Wave
The end of the Depression and the beginning of World War II would again push the Queens Library system into a new era of transformation What it would mean to the library was summed up by its director Louis Bailey who said in 1941, “Books, the inheritance and the heritage, carry onward the messages of liberty, democratic freedom and the eternal way of life. To defend that spirit, the personnel of the Queens Public Library is ready for every duty and will meet any emergency to the limit of its resources.”
By 1946, Queens had 46 branches, but by 1965, growth had again met challenges. Despite the Libraries Services and Construction Act that would provide federal money for the construction of libraries in underserved communities, the City was seriously strapped for cash and could not offer the necessary funds to subsidize the projects. Some libraries that were slated for construction did not materialize until the 1980s.
But Queens Library saw the light of day once again by the 1990s when the library system experienced a renaissance with the 76,000-square-foot construction of the Flushing library in 1998, which was followed by the opening of the new Langston Hughes and South Jamaica branches in 1999. After the terrorist attacks in 2001, when the City suffered a huge financial loss, legislators worked to secure more than $100 million from 2003 to 2006 to keep library services afloat.
Striving Onward
One of the stars of the Queens Library system is the architecturally inspiring Flushing Library.
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Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, the Queens Library throughout century-long history was strong enough to survive.
Joanne King, associate director of communications at the Queens Library, said the myriad changes and challenges throughout its history have not changed its core mission: bringing communities together and acting as a neighborhood anchor.
She said as the demographics of the neighborhoods shift, the Queens Library changes with it. It is constantly adding materials in other languages to its collection and continues to expand: the Jamaica and Flushing libraries command collections of 2.6 million books, tapes, CDs and other informational materials. In 2006, Queens Library circulated 20 million items.
King noted that the introduction of the Internet has not negatively impacted the library, but enhanced the way people can access information while also allowing branches to store more knowledge. She also said besides new ways of delivering information, the library still acts a tranquil community center.
At the centennial celebration, scheduled for April, King said the celebration will include the burial of a time capsule with artifacts collected by children that will be opened in another 100 years.
But it’s not just about preserving the past.
“I think (the celebration) signifies the core importance of the library, just by the longevity of it. It’s not a celebration of past; it’s looking forward to the next century of service.”
—Source: “Lighting the Way: The Centennial History of the Queens Borough Public Library 1896-1996.”
1907: St. John’s Basketball
Queens’ Red Hoop Dream
By LEE LANDOR
Chris Mullin is the all-time best player to come from St. John’s — though he never made it past the Final Four. |
In its 100 years at St. John’s University, the men’s basketball team, the Red Storm (formerly the Redmen), has flourished and made itself known and highly respected in local community and across the nation, as it has been part of the National Collegiate Athletics Association Tournament since 1951.
Making headlines since its formation in 1907, the team’s most successful players and coaches have risen to fame nationally, giving the Division I school its strong standing and recognition in the States.
The Red Storm has won its share of Big East Tournaments, defeating dozens of other teams, and has been invited to the big dance – the NCAA championships – sometimes coming close to the finals – though never carrying home the trophy.
The team’s successes are due to the serious efforts put forth by both players and coaches, and the tremendous support of students, faculty, staff and Queens’ neighbors. After all, the team is a “focal point for school spirit,” according to the St. John’s Athletics Director Emeritus, Jack Kaiser.
With coaches like James “Buck” Freeman, Joe Lapchick, Fred Maguire and Lou Carnesecca, the 100-year-old team has accomplished great feats; such as winning the first double overtime game against St. Joseph’s by one point in February 1937 – two months after Joe Lapchick began coaching the team – and making its first appearance in the National Invitational Tournament in March 1938, where it defeated a previously unbeaten team. Five years later, the team won its first NIT championship.
Eventful games are legendary, lining the memories of many and heartening those who’ll make future games exciting.
One game stands out to old-time St. John’s fans as the most exciting of all time: the Feb. 4, 1938 game where St. John’s defeated West Virginia 51-50 after the team came from behind and scored the final basket on the buzzer.
Several years later, in March 1944, during a game against DePaul, Coach Lapchick fainted during the second half, somehow prompting his team to continue playing even harder. It paid off, and the team won its second consecutive NIT crown. Lapchick later commented on the event in words that have resounded at St. John’s athletic department: “I dealt strategy a helluva blow.”
Then there was “Black Sunday.” During the week of March 9 to 18 in 1979 St. John’s had been the last team invited to the NCAA tournament, but then advanced to the East Regional Final by defeating three teams before losing to Penn. In the end, St. John’s fell and Penn went on to beat North Carolina.
The Red Storm broke and set records throughout the last century, and was involved in the complete overhaul of the game of basketball. According to Kaiser, it wasn’t until the late 1930s that basketball became a large, significant, widely established sport. Before then, it was just a few guys in shorts shooting hoops on a small court.
St. John’s was one of the first two teams to ever play basketball in Madison Square Garden – the place that changed the face of the game. New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker arranged a charity game at the Garden on Jan. 19, 1931 and invited St. John’s and City College of New York. The Redmen won 17-9, and became a marvel. Two and a half decades later, in December 1956, St. John’s set what was then the all-time team scoring record for one game: 115 points.
In recent years, the team has had its ups and downs from its 55-50 victory over the ninth-ranked and then undefeated Pittsburgh Panthers in 2006 to a seamy scandal at an away game in 2003. But as players come and go, the character of the team remains intact and the St. John’s community hopes it will continue to do so throughout the next century.
1907: Belle Harbor Founded
A Beachfront Queens Oasis
By Matt Hampton
Emergency crews respond to the November 2001 plane crash. |
The homes of Belle Harbor are a patchwork, representing a handful of styles. Walls in the neighborhood are made of stucco, construction plaster, stone tile, marble and cedar shingles. Every house on a given Beach Street might be a different style, from Post-Colonial to Victorian Gingerbread.
Many of the homes on this narrow strip of grass and asphalt-lined beach have been around now for 100 years. Belle Harbor celebrates its centennial in 2007, and though the history of the village might not be common knowledge to all Queens’ residents, it is a hundred years rich with significance and color.
The neighborhood was founded in 1907 by Frederick Lancaster, a land speculator and developer of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, who was instrumental in the founding of a handful of Rockaway neighborhoods, notably Belle Harbor and Edgemere, 15 years earlier.
Belle Harbor itself represents an attitude and a style of living available almost nowhere else in New York, as residents have all the amenities of small-town beach living, with subway and highway access to all the five boroughs of New York City just blocks away. The town draws intense patronage from all over the city and Long Island during the summer months, so much so that street parking in the area is illegal between mid-May and mid-September.
Residents lucky enough to live in the area have access to a pristine beach with views of New York City and the Atlantic Ocean.
One area resident highlighted the mix of disparate, middle class professions and religions present in the neighborhood, classifying it as just another neighborhood in the borough.
“It’s just beautiful. It’s the most beautiful portion of New York City,” said Barbera Larkin, President of the Belle Harbor Property Owner’s Association. “If you’re lucky enough to live by the shore, you’re lucky enough, I always say.”
Larkin also said that the one thing that has kept Belle Harbor as a premier New York neighborhood is the willingness of area civic associations to fight for their neighbors and communities.
“People are very, very respectful and appreciative of the leadership,” she said. “We work very, very hard to maintain the quality of life...You definitely cannot be complacent when you live in the city of New York.”
Belle Harbor is home to various interesting historical sites that add to the feel of a small beach community with access to New York City. Despite being just four blocks wide and not much longer, sites like the St. Francis de Sales Church bring their historical heft to the area. Some amenities include the Belle Harbor Yacht Club, which has been around as long as the village itself.
Belle Harbor’s most notable historical event, tragically, is probably the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, which came down in the neighborhood just after takeoff from JFK Airport in November 2001. The flight, bound for the Dominican Republic, had some extreme rudder problems after takeoff, according to published reports. Pilots lost control of the plane, which crashed at Newport Avenue and Beach 131st Street. The crash caused the deaths of 265 people, including five people in the neighborhood, and launched numerous investigations into aircraft safety and maintenance practices. The impact on the neighborhood was tangible, as residents of both Belle Harbor and the surrounding communities had intense concerns over air safety in the path of JFK air traffic.
A monument to the victims was erected and dedicated on Nov. 12, 2006, in a ceremony attended by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, as well as families of the victims.
Results of a recent study by Borough President Helen Marshall suggest that the population of the entire Rockaway Peninsula is growing exponentially. With neighborhoods like Belle Harbor, it’s no wonder Queens residents and others are flocking to the area.
