Queens Libraries Are King

The
Queens library
system is
the best—in
the country. Yesterday the Public Library
Association (PLA) released a report that
ranked Queens #1. Brooklyn
ranked fifth and New
York (which
services Manhattan),
came in seventh. The Bronx and Staten
Island public libraries
are not PLA members. The PLA is a division
of the American Library
Association and has
11,000 member libraries.

Items
in circulation
in the Queens
libraries increased
between the 2006 and 2007 fiscal years from
20.2 to 21 million.
Its 63 branches
see 55,000 visitors
daily. More than just a place to borrow books
from, the libraries
have become community centers in
the city’s most diverse borough. Other impressive
figures include
the 22,000 programs offered
and the 30 languages that popular titles are
available in.

Photo
courtesy of Pro-Zak
on Flickr