From The Peopling of New York City
One of Flushing’s most historical sites is the Flushing Library. The Flushing library, established in 1858, was the first library in Queens County. Currently the largest Flushing branch is located at the intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Main Street. It serves as an excellent nucleus to Flushing, and a stand out with it’s beautifully constructed building.
The Flushing Branch library opened it’s newest building in June 1998. It is a 4-level, 76,000 square foot building. It contains the Flushing branch library, the International Resource Center and an Adult Learning Center. It holds more than 350,000 books, videos, periodicals and other library materials available to the public. These materials are available in numerous languages in order to better serve the community. These languages include, Korean, Chinese, Bengali, Hindi and a various more in their international section. The presence of these languages proves that Flushing is much more than a “Chinatown” it is a multicultural center that serves many ethnic groups.
The Flushing Library holds over 1,000 free educational and cultural programs each year. With an inflow of over 5,000 customers a day, the Flushing Branch is thought to be New York State’s largest Public library and a true gem in Flushing.
Citations:
Queens Library. Web. 03 May 2010. <http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=CL-Communityinfo&branch_id=f>