NEW YORK – After being closed for two years, the Queens Public Library branch in Flushing said Friday it plans to reopen to the public in mid-to-late April.

“We know how much the library means to the people of Flushing and beyond, and we look forward to seeing it come to life again,” Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott said.

According to a statement from the Queens Public Library, the Flushing branch closed its doors to the public on March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic. It reopened so staff could fulfill requests for books and materials in July 2020, and began providing to-go service to the public in November 2020.

It later began serving as a vaccination site in March 2021. But according to the Queens Public Library, its cooling and healing system failed in May 2021, and the vaccination site was closed that June. The site was used for storage to support the distribution of vaccines to nearby locations after the vaccination site closed.

A temporary HVAC system will be installed for the summer weather – with the construction taking place mostly at night, the Queens Public Library wrote in a statement.

The library plans to be in full service with a newly installed elevator and the renovation of an existing elevator.

“The elevator project will be an enormous benefit to the more than 5,000 people who come through this library’s doors on a typical day,” Walcott said.

The reopening of the library was praised by Queens Rep. Grace Meng.

The Queens Public Library says its Flushing branch “drew 1.7 million visitors, circulated 1 million items and brought in 184,000 program attendees” in the 2019 fiscal year.

An exact date for its reopening in April has not been announced yet.