Queens Public Library serves over 2 million customers in the most ethnically and culturally diverse county in the United States. Queens Public Library has long been a pioneer in partnering with libraries in other countries in order to exchange professional knowledge and to facilitate obtaining library materials from other countries in languages other than English.

Queens Public Library currently has signed agreements of inter-library cooperation with the Shanghai Library and the National Library of Korea (Seoul).

Past agreements have been signed with the National Library of China (Beijing), Bibliotheque Publique d’Information (Paris, France), Integrated Care Society (Cairo, Egypt), Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (Montréal), and V.V. Mayakovsky Central City Public Library (St. Petersburg, Russia). We are open to future international agreements as well.

Queens Public Library also provides opportunities for students in library and information science from abroad to arrange for fieldwork assignments with us. We work currently with the University of the West Indies (Mona, Jamaica) and have also worked with the University of Barcelona and the Ecole nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques (ENSSIB) (Villeurbanne, France).

Queens Public Library will continue to develop and maintain contacts with international organizations, assist in the development of international cooperation and exchange agreements, administer exchange programs for professional staff, host visiting dignitaries, and work with appropriate U.S. governmental institutions that deal with educational, cultural, and informational programs.

For more information, please contact:

Fred J. Gitner
Assistant Director of New Initiatives and Partnership Liaison
New Americans Program
Queens Public Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard
Jamaica, New York 11432
718-990-0892 (phone)
718-990-8626 (fax)
E-mail: napref@queenslibrary.org