Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. had a deep dialogue about libraries with podcast visitor Dennis Walcott.
Picture courtesy Workplace of Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.
Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. just lately hosted a particular version of his podcast, “The place Do We Go from Right here?” in celebration of February’s Nationwide Library Lovers Month.
The episode featured a dialogue with Dennis Walcott, the president and chief government officer of the Queens Public Library (QPL).
Addabbo, who represents District 15 in Queens, mentioned Nationwide Library Lovers Month serves as “a reminder of the invaluable position libraries play in our communities, devoted to studying and fostering a love for books.”
Addabbo, chairman of the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, is a passionate advocate for libraries, constantly allocating funding every fiscal yr to assist numerous applications at QPL inside his district.
“Libraries are important pillars of our communities, offering not simply entry to books, but additionally fostering creativity, studying, and connection amongst residents,” Addabbo mentioned.
He additionally often hosts cell workplace hours at library areas throughout his district, so he can instantly meet along with his constituents one-on-one, and hearken to their points and issues.
QPL stands as one of many largest and busiest public library methods within the nation, based on Walcott, catering to the nation’s most ethnically and culturally numerous inhabitants with 66 areas throughout the borough.
Throughout the podcast, Walcott highlighted the various facilities QPL affords past conventional studying assets.
He mentioned initiatives just like the summer time meals program, bookmobiles, and guide bikes that ship literature to these unable to journey to a library.
Moreover, Walcott mentioned QPL serves as a cooling heart throughout the scorching summer time months, and affords quite a few workshops and courses in a number of languages.
“QPL has simply adopted a brand new strategic plan, which lays out our priorities for the following 5 years to make sure we stay a vibrant, important establishment for future generations,” he mentioned. “Our priorities embrace bettering and increasing applications and providers for immigrants, teenagers, and older adults, in addition to selling local weather literacy.
“We consider these priorities will deepen our affect in areas of nice want,” he added, expressing pleasure concerning the upcoming transformation of the Rego Park Library, which shall be changed by a model new, two-story constructing, “additional enhancing the neighborhood’s entry to assets and providers.