QUEENS — The Archives at Queens Library, located within the Central Library in Jamaica, will be closed for several weeks this summer as officials get them ready to move to a newly renovated space within the same building, the library said.
The new room, which will be located inside the renovated library at 89-11 Merrick Blvd., will feature new décor and climate-controlled storage, according to the library.
The Archives, which serve to preserve the history of the four counties of Long Island, with a special emphasis on Queens, contain about 32,000 items, including approximately 2,500 cubic feet of manuscripts, 4,500 maps and broadsides and more than 100,000 photographs, said Joanne King, a spokeswoman for the library.
The majority of the printed material and manuscripts are from the 19th and 20th centuries, but some 18th century material as well as 17th century manuscripts are also part of the Archives.
The collection also incudes several rare historical artifacts, such as the papers of inventor Lewis Latimer and the original 1686 Dongan Patent, which settled the boundaries of Jamaica.
The Archives will remain closed from June 27 through the end of July, but a selection of photographs will be available digitally.
