The New York Public Library's Bronx Library Center is Now Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Seven Days a Week

Hours Also Expanded at 11 Nearby Bronx Branches, including Additional Evening and Weekend Service

The New York Public Library's Bronx Library Center is now open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The new schedule represents a significant expansion of open hours, building on the City�s investment in library service citywide this past July, when it provided funding for each location to be open six days a week. In addition to the six-day service now available at all Library locations, additional hours are now offered at 11 branch libraries located in the central and northwest Bronx.

"It is enormously gratifying to be able to provide our users in the Bronx with the expanded library service they have been seeking," said David Ferriero, the Andrew W. Mellon Director of The New York Public Libraries. "Whether through the collections and services of local libraries or more in-depth resources available at the Bronx Library Center, the new hours make our libraries accessible to students, job seekers, entrepreneurs, retirees, new immigrants, children, and others who need to use them at widely varying times."

The Bronx Library Center, which opened in January 2006, is The New York Public Library's central Bronx branch and offers resources for children, teenagers, and adults in its five-story building at 310 East Kingsbridge Road. The Center has the largest collections of any library in the Bronx, a teen area, and an entire floor dedicated to materials and programming for children. There are Internet-access computers available for public use, in addition to free wireless Internet access. Other centralized resources include the Latino and Puerto Rican Culture Center; the Center for Reading and Writing, which teaches literacy to adult new readers; the Career and Information Service which provides free educational and job counseling; and an auditorium where the Center presents a wide range of free performances, talks, and other programming. In its first year, over 700,000 visitors visited the Bronx Library Center; 527,122 items were circulated; 15,409 new library cards were issued; and 25,229 people attended public programs onsite.

Each of The New York Public Library�s locations increased hours to six-day service on July 4, thanks to funding from the City. Starting in September, The New York Public Library further expanded the schedule of eleven Bronx branches. The libraries listed below are open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m to 5 p.m.:

Six-day service at The New York Public Library has been generously funded by the City of New York: Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor; Christine C. Quinn, City Council Speaker; and the members of the New York City Council.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with the Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free and open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers - The Humanities and Social Sciences Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library - and 87 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The New York Public Library serves over 16 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 25 million users internationally, who access collections and services through its website, http://www.nypl.org.

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Contact: Gayle Snible at 212.592.7713 or gsnible@nypl.org

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