Benefits of A Queens Public Library Card For Your Child

Having a Queens Public Library card and using it can make all the difference to your child’s success in school.

Getting a card is easy, it is free, and it is a passport to a lifetime of learning and reading for pleasure.

If your child has never had a library card before:

  • You can get an application at any library. You will be asked to provide some proof of your present address.
  • If your child is coming to the Library with a class, the teacher may send home the forms for you to fill out and will bring them back during the visit.
  • Help your child fill out the form, and both of you must sign it.
  • If you would like to allow your child to use both the Children’s Room and the Adult Collections, make sure you check the box for “Open Access.”

If your child’s card has been lost:

  • There is a $2 fee to replace it.
  • You need to fill out a new form, and pay for any fines or lost book charges that are on the old card.

If your child owes money for lost materials:

  • Queens Public Library wants to make it easy for your child to come back to the library.
  • Individuals 21 and younger may participate in Read Down Your Fees, a program to help them regain their library privileges without paying money. For every ½ hour the child reads in the library or is read to by someone older, $1 is removed from the balance owed. Ask a librarian for details.  
  • Fees can always be paid in installments. Ask at your local library.

Once your child has a library card:

  • Make regular visits.
  • Get a card for yourself.
  • Browse and check out books and videos together.
  • Learn to use the computers and the Internet.
  • Enjoy the wide variety of programs for your family at the Library.  You can find out about programs at any library, on our web page or through printed announcements.

You and your child can

  • Borrow books, cassettes, video, DVDs, and CDs.
  • Read magazines.
  • Use our computers.
  • Get information on almost any topic.
  • Attend programs for children, for family groups, for teens, or adults.
  • Join a Summer Reading Club.
  • Get special reading lists of books that really appeal to children.
  • Use the programs and services at all Queens Public Library locations.
  • Learn together! Free Family Literacy Programs help the whole family improve English language skills together.

Your Library + You + Your Child

Queens Public Library has a library location in every neighborhood in Queens and the Central Library in Jamaica. You are invited to use your library card or attend programs at any of them.

Queens Public Library welcomes children of all ages. Younger children using the library should be accompanied by a parent or other adult caregiver. Young children should never be sent to, or left in, the library alone.   Parents should know that children must leave our buildings at the posted closing time.

Parents should monitor what their children are reading, and how their kids use the computer, in the library, at school, in their own homes, and at friends’ homes. The Internet is a valuable and powerful research tool. Your guidance about what is age-appropriate, as well as common sense safety issues, will help your children get the best out of their experience.

The Library has a lot to offer you and your child. Come visit us

  • For school assignments
  • For family programs
  • For individual reading suggestions
  • For information and answers

The staff is here to help you find the information and materials you need. If you don’t find what you need on the shelves of your community library, ask the librarian to request it through inter-library loan.

Your library card is your passport to a whole world of information and recreation.