Bayside Library Will Reopen For To-Go Service

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Bayside residents will soon be able to pick up new reads at their local library.

The public library at 214-20 Northern Blvd. is among seven branches across Queens that will reopen for limited "to-go" service starting July 13.

Each location will be open six days a week for customers to pick up reading materials requested online, through the Queens Public Library app or by phone. All staff and visitors will be required to wear masks and stay at least 6 feet apart from one another.

Customers can check out materials without accruing fines until Oct. 1., and fine-based library card blocks will be lifted.

Those who don't have a library card can apply online and pick up a card at one of the locations offering to-go service.

The other locations that are partially reopening are the Bellerose Library, East Elmhurst Library, Kew Gardens Hills Library, Laurelton Library, Long Island City Library and Peninsula Library.

Reopened branches will be cleaned several days a week, and materials returned through the libraries' exterior return machines will be "quarantined" for 72 hours before staffers put them back into circulation.

They will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with a one-hour closure from 1 to 2 p.m. for cleaning. It will be open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and from noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday, with a one-hour closure from 3 to 4 p.m. for cleaning.

The Queens Public Library’s Mail-a-Book home delivery service will also resume.

The partial reopenings are part of the Queens Public Library's 17-page plan for operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we begin to step cautiously back into our physical spaces and welcome customers inside, we will continue to reimagine and expand our services and respond to the diverse needs of the public,” Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott said.

“We recognize the disproportionate toll the virus has taken on our communities and will reopen cautiously, gradually, and intentionally, in stages, starting with a small number of locations offering limited service to the public and expanding over time as circumstances allow."