Everyone Is Welcome

<p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>When Central Library opens its doors each morning our staff are always there to greet people as they enter. This simple but important gesture sets a tone of warmth and welcome that lie at the heart of our mission to transform lives and build strong communities. We know our customers count on the library for learning belonging opportunity and so much more and this daily ritual - a hallmark of the leadership of Central Library Director Nelson Yusheng Lu - reminds us of our role in serving them.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)> In </span><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>Everyone Is Welcome: Queens Public Library Then and Now </em><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>Nelson has taken on the ambitious task of compiling the stories of our 63 libraries to commemorate QPL's 130th anniversary. His effort is as much a tribute to our diverse communities and the generations who have put their trust in us as it is a labor of love borne out of a deep respect for our history and enduring role in the lives of millions. On behalf of Queens Public Library I want to congratulate Nelson on his accomplishment.</span></p><p class=ql-align-right><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)> </span><em style=color: rgba(83 90 98 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>Dennis M. Walcott President and CEO </em></p><p class=ql-align-right><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>Queens Public Library</em></p><p class=ql-align-right></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>For the past 130 years Queens Public Library has been a cornerstone of community life across the borough of Queens in New York City. During this time the library's programs and services have continually evolved to meet the growing and changing needs of the public.Today Queens Public Library is stronger than ever. Our commitment to the public and to ensuring Everyone Is Welcome as the title of this book so perfectly states remains as steadfast now as it was 130 years ago.</span></p><p class=ql-align-right><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>Nick Buron Chief Librarian</em></p><p class=ql-align-right><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>Queens Public Library</em></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>We said farewell not only to our families and friends but to the familiar air the language of childhood and the soil that had carried our first steps. Ahead of us lay another world-America unknown yet full of promise. The farewell and the encounter met in the same moment: leaving what we loved and beginning to find what we would come to love. This book a brief history of Queens Public Library represents years of devotion by Nelson Lu-a librarian historian and friend. The collection of more than 1200 photographs combines images from the Library's archives and photographs taken by the author himself during his visits to every community library in Queens. </span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>This Foreword then is both a greeting and a thank-you-to a friend to a library and to the city that allowed us to become who we are.</span></p><p class=ql-align-right><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>Paul Xinye Qiu</em></p><p class=ql-align-right><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(83 90 98 1)>Flushing New York October 2025</em></p><p class=ql-align-right></p><p class=ql-align-right></p><p></p><p></p>