$38 million Library Discovery Center opening

As citywide public libraries brace for a potential $26 million cut in state funding over the next two years and recover from a slew of city budget cuts that took effect over the past few months, Queens has broken ground on a new $38 million Children’s Library Discovery Center to open at the end of the year.
The project, which will result in an “interactive learning environment” integrated into the main Queens Public Library branch in Jamaica, is the result of capital funding - a budget allocated for new buildings and renovations of existing structures. Queens Library officials stressed that capital funds come from a different funding stream than the operating budget, which was recently cut and resulted in the elimination of seven-day service and reduced hours at most Queens locations beginning in September of last year.
Financing for the 14,000-square foot project - which Queens Library Director Thomas W. Galante said will be a “major destination for children and families” - was committed by Borough President Helen Marshall, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Councilmember Leroy Comrie and the Queens City Council Delegation, as well as through federally-funded grants.
Marshall, who was the Center’s prime sponsor, allocating over $17 million toward its construction, said in a statement, “This center will unite my greatest passions: children, science and libraries.”
The facility, explained Queens Library Associate Director of Communications, Joanne King, will be “a combination of museum exhibits with a library focus.” At any given time, King explained, there will be 18 interactive exhibits out on the floor, with an additional six “discovery carts” rotating throughout the branches. One such cart will introduce students to local wildlife via an interactive computer module with sounds and silhouettes that children can use to identify local birds. The exhibit will also include feathers, nests and information about migration and habitats, in addition to pointing children to relevant print and video collections.
“I see it, I touch it, I can come back tomorrow and get a book about it, then get a video about it,” King said, describing the experience through the eyes of a three-to-twelve-year-old child who will utilize the facility and visit it with his or her school.
While the center will promote state-of-the-art learning techniques, it will also embrace older, more entrenched library technologies. Six permanent and another two or three rotating “Dewey boxes,” will showcase an exhibit, such as one featuring butterfly specimens, relevant to the subject matter in the Dewey decimal area.
While King underscored the one-of-a-kind nature of the center, she emphasized that it is “first and foremost a library environment” that will place a premium on literacy, learning and homework help. The center will also include traditional library programs, King added.
“You can’t neglect story times and Mother Goose times that traditionally make kids want to read,” she said.