You are reading

Awkwafina, Daymond John to Celebrate Queens Public Library’s 125th Anniversary Tuesday

Awkwafina, who was raised in Forest Hills, is one of four celebrities from the World’s borough who will appear at the Queens Public Library’s virtual gala Tuesday

March 7, 2021 By Christina Santucci

Some of the borough’s biggest names in entertainment will help celebrate the Queens Public Library’s 125th anniversary at a free virtual gala Tuesday.

Actor, writer and producer Awkwafina, who is known for her hit show “Nora from Queens,” will make an appearance alongside “Shark Tank” star and FUBU clothing founder Daymond John, acclaimed author Min Jin Lee and Hari Kondabolu, a comedian, writer and podcaster.

Lee wrote “Free Food for Millionaires” and “Pachinko,” a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist for fiction, and Kondabolu starred in the 2018 Netflix standup special, “Warn Your Relatives.”

The virtual gala is scheduled to take place Tuesday at 6 p.m. and is free to watch online.

The entertainers participating have Queens roots.

Awkwafina was raised in Forest Hills, Lee grew up in Elmhurst, John hails from Hollis and Kondabolu is a former resident of Jackson Heights and Floral Park.

The featured celebrities also recorded “Happy Birthday” messages to Queens Public Library (QPL), which dates back to 1896.

The library system began when residents from Long Island City, Steinway and Astoria were granted a charter to form the Long Island City Public Library, the borough’s first multi-branch library. The charter was written with wording to expand service throughout Queens, and the Queens Borough Public Library was later incorporated in 1907.

The annual event, which was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, typically serves as a fundraiser for the library system.

“For over a century, Queens Public Library has been dedicated to building resilience and unity in our communities, and we know our neighbors are counting on us now and for the years to come,” officials wrote on the event page.

To help celebrate the library’s 125th anniversary, QPL is also asking patrons to submit their memories of the branches over the years. Those photos and stories will be added to an online map of Queens library locations.

A screenshot of the Happy Birthday video posted by Queens Public Library

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

FDNY investigates blaze at CALLAHEAD portable toilet headquarters in Broad Channel

FDNY fire marshals are still working to determine the cause of a stubborn 2-alarm fire at the CALLAHEAD headquarters in Broad Channel that injured a civilian and a firefighter on the night of Sunday, April 27.

The blaze broke out at 3-04 Cross Bay Blvd. just before 7 p.m. at New York’s largest portable sanitation company at the southern edge of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. The fire went to a second alarm, bringing 25 units and 106 firefighters and EMS personnel to the scene between East 3rd Street and East 4th Street. EMS transported the civilian to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center with minor injuries. EMS transported the firefighter to Nassau County Medical Center in East Meadow with minor injuries.