FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 15, 2021
CONTACT:
Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Queens Public Library, ekern@queenslibrary.org
QPL’S Annual “It’s Time For Kind” Initiative to Focus on the Importance of Resilience and Caring for Other People as the City Recovers From the Pandemic
“It’s Time for Kind,” QPL’s System-Wide Holiday Initiative, Includes To-Go Appreciation Packages for the Public, a Food Drive and Activities for People of All Ages to Inspire Acts of Kindness
(Glendale, NY – November 1, 2021) Now in its 20th month, the pandemic has reinforced the importance of resilience and caring for other people during periods of great difficulty. As the city continues to recover from the devastating effects of COVID-19, Queens Public Library is launching its annual “It’s Time for Kind,” a seven-week initiative promoting everyday acts of kindness to help Queens communities connect and support each other this holiday season.
The initiative, now in its fourth year, begins today and will last through the end of the year, offering customers programs, events, and activities - online and in the branches - that inspire acts of kindness and promote the spirit of goodness, generosity and neighborliness.
All QPL branches will be distributing to-go appreciation packages, which will include, among other things, coloring pages, booklets for writing notes of appreciation, and a QPL 125th Anniversary bookmark. They will also contain materials and instructions necessary to contribute to a Community Mosaic made from canvas that depicts the meaning of kindness. The mosaic will be displayed next spring at a QPL location.
Throughout our libraries, customers will participate in kindness-themed crafts and storytimes and ESOL students and teens will write greeting cards to our homebound customers. QPL has also created walls of kindness with weekly prompts, where the public will have a chance to post stories about acts of kindness they have experienced, or offered to others.
The initiative will also include a scavenger hunt on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 4 PM at East Flushing Library (for children ages 5-10); making cards for hospitalized children on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 4 PM; and creating a community weaving tapestry at Fresh Meadows Library.
QPL will also present numerous cultural performances over the next six weeks. On Saturday, Dec. 11 at 3:30 PM the Library will host on its Facebook Live page “Peace, Joy, and Love,” a classical vocal music concert with the most beloved arias, duets and songs by famous composers, from “Sull’aria” from “Le Nozze di Figaro” by Mozart to “Serenade” by Tchaikovsky and a medley of favorites songs like “Silver Bells,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Frosty the Snowman.”
On Friday, Nov. 19 at 7 PM, Queens Public Library will gather a circle of poets who will share their work, telling stories celebrating the power of kindness and empathy in poetry. This special evening of readings, held on WebEx, will feature original work by Maria Lisella, Queens Poet Laureate and Academy of American Poet Laureate Fellow, and a circle of Thursday Morning Poets, Nadia Bongo, Marcia Elwarari, Luvon Roberson, and Judy Trupin.
QPL’s community archiving program, Queens Memory, will also offer workshops on WebEx titled “Recording Your Family Stories” on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 PM and Friday, Dec. 17 at 2 PM, teaching participants how to record a conversation with a loved one in person or over the phone or computer, how to ask good questions, and how to share the recording with family and friends.
As food prices have increased substantially, as have the number of visits to food pantries since the beginning of the pandemic, QPL has partnered once again with the Food Bank for New York City. From December 1 to 31, seven QPL locations will serve as drop-off sites for canned food donations: Broadway, Cambria Heights, Central, Far Rockaway, Glen Oaks, Peninsula and Ridgewood. All donations will support local food pantries.
The complete schedule of QPL’s It’s Time for Kind events and curated lists of books emphasizing kindness are available here.
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About Queens Public Library
Queens Public Library is one of the largest and busiest public library systems in the United States, dedicated to serving the most ethnically and culturally diverse area in the country. An independent, non-profit organization founded in 1896, Queens Public Library offers free access to a collection of more than 5 million books and other materials in multiple languages, technology and digital resources, and more than 87,500 educational, cultural, and civic programs a year. It consists of 66 locations, including branch libraries, a Central Library, seven adult learning centers, a technology lab, and two teen centers.